Fraud of the Week

November 12, 2018

Crash Ring, Auto Fraud — Michigan

Amount: $1.6 Million

 

A sophisticated car insurance fraud ring that lasted several years has been thwarted in Michigan, its leader received 3 years in prison and is being forced to repay almost $300,000 in restitution to the insurance companies he ripped off. The ring operated from December 2011 to May 2014, and recruited and paid cash to individuals in exchange for staging an automobile accident and obtaining police reports so insurance claims could be made with their insurance companies. Individuals, including management, at the clinics told accident participants which symptoms to complain of to the physicians affiliated with the fraud ring in order to receive a prescription for physical therapy. The accident victims then sought unnecessary treatment, and the insurance companies paid for other treatment that the accident victims did not receive. The guilty clinic billed automobile insurers over $1 million.

Twelve people were convicted in association with this fraud ring.