(Bloomberg) -- New York’s attorney general has opened a criminalprobe into accusations by Hurricane Sandy victims that insurancecompanies rejected claims for flood damage to their propertiesbased on falsified engineering reports, a person familiar with thematter said.

New York homeowners have filed at least three lawsuits infederal court accusing the insurers which contract with thegovernment’s National Flood Insurance Program of scheming withengineering firms, and others involved in handling claims to denyor reduce damage payouts based on fraudulently manipulated reports.The state’s attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, has begun aninvestigation into whether any crimes were committed, said theperson, who declined to be named because the information isn’tpublic.

Sandy, the largest Atlantic hurricane on record, caused about$60 billion in damage in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut whenit struck in October 2012. It killed more than 100 people in theU.S. and triggered the worst flooding in the more than 100-yearhistory of the New York City subway system.