One man's gig of instigating auto accidents to file fraudulent insurance claims has come to a halt. Christopher John Thrain, 42, of Buckhannon, West Virginia, was sentenced on May 21, 2012 to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to one count of mail fraud for his part in a staged collision racket.
U.S. District Court Chief Judge John Preston Bailey also ordered Thrain to complete three years of supervised release and make restitution in the amount of $35,962.31 to four defrauded insurance companies.
Thrain, an auto body repair specialist, would solicit people to engage in staged auto accidents for which he and the other individuals would file fraudulent insurance claims. The scheme began to derail when Dairyland Insurance investigator, Steve Mocchia, and State Insurance Fraud Unit Investigator, Brad Dumire, noticed commonalities between claims filed by Thrain. Specifically, insured vehicles seemed to have a strong propensity for striking Thrain's parked vehicle.
In all, seven claims were made by Thrain where his parked vehicle was supposedly struck by insured vehicles. The racket completely jumped the tracks when seven people confessed that the crashes in which they were involved were staged, and that statements made to their insurers were indeed false. All seven claimed the scheme was Thrain's idea.
Thrain was remanded to the custody of the U. S Marshall pending designation to a federal institution. Next stop: Stony Lonesome.
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