Hundreds gathered in Palm Desert, Calif. this week for theInternational Association of Special Investigation Units (IASIU)27th Annual Seminar & Expo to discuss the most vexing insurancefraud schemes, as well as cutting-edge technologies and strategiesto combat them.

On Monday following presentations by esteemed industry iconssuch as NICB President and CEO Joseph H. Wehrle, Jr. and CAIFExecutive Director Dennis Jay, IASIU kept the momentum going with aspecial ceremony honoring four individuals not only for theirleadership and tenacity in unraveling some of the globe's mostpernicious scams but also for their collective contributions to theindustry. The organization presented the following 2012 awards:

Analyst of the Year: Mary “Bunny” Durden,Geico

Mary Durden was honored as Analyst of the Year for her work on astaged accident investigation in Georgia. She assisted the NationalInsurance Crime Bureau (NICB) by providing information on anindividual who used fictitious names to obtain insurance policiesand make claims not only from her insurance company, but frommultiple insurance carriers. Many of the claims involved the samevehicle with the same damages resulting in payments being made tothe fictitious named individuals. Through Durden's analysis, morethan 40 claims were identified and provided to the NICB along withthe summary of the claim information, photographs and estimates ofthe damage.

As a result of Durden's efforts, the U.S. Secret Serviceinvestigated for possible federal mail fraud, wire fraud or bankfraud violations. That investigation led the individual to confessto submitting fraudulent insurance claims.

Investigator of the Year: John Boatwright,Travelers

John Boatwright of Travelers Insurance received the 2012Investigator of the Year Award for his work that exposed aCalifornia-based durable medical equipment (DME) company that wasimproperly increasing payments for medical equipment. Hisinvestigation showed the company was billing for expensive piecesof DME while delivering sub-standard models; providing alteredsource documents to substantiate the cost of certain pieces ofequipment; utilizing the state's lien process to further theirenterprise; and altering medical bills to test and deceive paymentsystems

As a result of the investigation, the insurer sought litigationthrough the California False Claims Act in late 2011 and the casewas settled this year.

Public Service Award: Wendy Derzaph, L.A. CountyD.A.

Wendy Derzaph of the Los Angeles County District Attorney'sOffice received the 2012 Public Service Award for her efforts inprosecuting a large, sophisticated, international insurance fraudcriminal enterprise being run out of Dubai in the United ArabEmirates.

The crime ring consisted of 11 primary suspects from around theglobe who stole thousands of Americans' identities and used thestolen identities to submit fraudulent workers' compensationmedical service bills to 70 different insurance companies. Throughthe scheme, this group illegally obtained millions of dollars infraudulent insurance payments, and then laundered the proceedsthrough wire transfers to Dubai, Armenia, or the Philippines.

A total of 55 felony counts were filed against each of the 11defendants alleging insurance fraud, grand theft, identity theft,money laundering, and conspiracy. Derzaph concluded the case withsix of the defendants entering guilty pleas in court andinternational arrest warrants being issued for the other fivedefendants. The court also ordered $4.8 million in restitution.

Outstanding Service Award: Walter Swett,Nationwide

Walter Swett, of Nationwide Insurance and the Georgia IASIUchapter, was honored for more than a decade of service to thenational and local organizations. In addition to serving on theNational Board of Directors, under his leadership, the Georgiachapter grew its regular and associate membership numbers to asteady annual roster of around 100.

Swett also paved the way for educating local and state lawenforcement agencies about all facets of insurance fraud – creatingan entire training program for law enforcement agencies on variousaspects of insurance fraud investigation and prosecution. Recently,he led the chapter's public anti-fraud education campaign –utilizing billboards throughout the state to urge the public tocall the NICB's 1-800-TEL-NICB hotline to report insurancefraud.

Click here to view the 2011 IASIU award recipients andtheir respective contributions.