(Bloomberg) — Former National Football League wide receiver JeffWebb is accused of being the ringleader of a group that staged carcollisions to defraud insurance companies.

Webb, 34, who played for the Kansas City Chiefs, was arrested onmultiple felony counts following crashes that resulted in $70,000in claims and a total potential loss of $139,000, the CaliforniaDepartment of Insurance said Wednesday in a statement. As theleader, Webb allegedly received a bulk of the money paid by thevictim companies, which included Progressive Corp., York RiskServices Group, Rental Insurance Services and Hertz ClaimManagement.

“California is ground zero for staged auto collisions,"Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones said in the statement. “Organizedcrime rings are responsible for the majority of staged collisions,which are costly to insurers and consumers.”

The group supposedly purchased insurance policies for privatelyowned cars and rental vehicles, and then purposefully crashed them.The suspects requested medical help even though the vehicles onlysuffered minor damage, according to the statement. The departmentwas alerted by one of the insurance companies that suspectedfraud.

Related: LexisNexis study finds fraudsters target multipleindustries

Copyright 2018 Bloomberg. All rightsreserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten,or redistributed.