Four North Carolina residents were arrested this month for theirroles in an auto insurance fraud-ring scheme.

According to North Carolina Department of Insurance officials,Rayon Artis partnered with three of his friends -- Arturo Carmen,Jermaine Keys, and Shawna Smith -- to stage auto accidents in orderto submit false claims to insurers. The team proved to be highlyeffective; through their efforts, the foursome were able to netmore than $100,000 in false claim payments over the course of fouryears.

As the ringleader of the bunch, Artis was charged with fivecounts of conspiring to obtain property by false pretenses. Histhree accomplices were charged with one count each.

To whom do the four owe the thanks? Diligent anti-fraud effortsby GMAC Insurance Company led to the suspicions. The case was thenreported to North Carolina's Department of Insurance investigators,who then followed up with their own investigation and assistedseveral other governmental agencies in making the arrests.

North Carolina's Department of Insurance features one of themore robust anti-fraud units in the country. It employs 20 swornlaw enforcement officers dedicated to investigating claims ofinsurance fraud. In 2007, these investigators saw more than 525cases successfully closed with more than $14.5 million inrestitution and recoveries, 53 criminal convictions, and 109arrests.

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