State Auto Fraud Unit Announces Latest Enforcement Actions

Attorney General Spitzer and Superintendent of Insurance Gregory Serio today announced a series of enforcement actions by the state's Automobile Insurance Fraud Unit (AIFU).

The latest action by AIFU -- a sweep of the upstate region -- has resulted in the arrest of 25 individuals for insurance fraud and related offenses.

"Auto insurance fraud is a pervasive crime that requires a sustained, statewide effort to combat," Spitzer said. "We are working with the Insurance Department, law enforcement, and industry officials across the state. We are making progress, but there is still an extraordinary amount of work to do."

Superintendent Serio said: "These arrests demonstrate that the unique partnering effort between the Insurance Department, the Attorney General, local district attorneys and state and local law enforcement is effectively working to eliminate criminal activity. In fact, in a report released last week, the Insurance department reported 811 fraud arrests in 2003, the highest number ever recorded. This is further proof that through this aggressive anti-fraud network, criminals are being taken off the street."

Serio added: "It is the continued commitment by Governor Pataki to allocate essential resources to fighting fraud that has resulted in a vigorous crackdown on auto fraud, and has started to bring relief to New York's policyholders. Progress is being made in the auto insurance marketplace and the Department is committed to continuing its tough anti-fraud efforts to build on this momentum."

Spitzer and Serio said that the upstate enforcement actions uncovered brazen schemes to defraud insurance companies including false claims, double billing and staged accidents. They noted that while several cases involved relatively small dollar amounts of fraud, any fraud against the system has consequences for all consumers.

The enforcement action was praised by the National Insurance Crime Bureau. Tom Carroll, Director of Operations - Region 9 NICB said: "The National Insurance Crime Bureau values and appreciates the ongoing assistance rendered by Attorney General Spitzer, Superintendent Serio and all of New York State's insurance industry officials in our mutual efforts to combat insurance fraud."

Spitzer and Serio thanked the NICB and its member companies for assisting in the investigations which led to the upstate arrests.

AIFU was created in November 2001 to investigate and prosecute criminal acts relating to submission of fraudulent motor vehicle insurance claims. To date, AIFU has brought felony charges against 154 defendants across the state.

AIFU is composed of 48 attorneys, investigators, auditors and analysts. The Unit is headed by Assistant Attorney General Steven Nachman. Deputy Chief of Investigations James Conway supervises the investigators, auditors and analysts.

Attachments:

• Attached is a list of cases produced by the upstate sweep. The charges are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. - PDF Format