SoCal Ring Allegedly Netted $1.5 Million From 75 Staged Crashes
By Associated Press - December 22, 2004LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Thirteen people were arrested for allegedly taking part in an auto-fraud ring that reaped $1.5 million in insurance claims after staging 75 freeway accidents, authorities said Monday.
"Few crimes are more despicable than staging auto collisions, which not only threaten the health of innocent victims, but cost all of us by raising the cost of auto insurance," state Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi said in a statement.
Authorities said members of the ring would orchestrate a collision that appeared to be the fault of an innocent victim, typically by darting in front of another vehicle on the freeway and stopping abruptly.
Working with complicit legal offices and medical clinics, ring members allegedly would then file fraudulent insurance claims using bogus identities. Investigators estimated that $1.5 million in fraudulent claims were generated by the scam, which operated primarily on Los Angeles County freeways.
Alleged members of the ring face charges from an 85-count complaint, ranging from insurance fraud to assault with a deadly weapon.
After executing 10 search warrants at homes, law offices and medical clinics, a task force that included members of the Insurance Department, the county district attorney's office and the California Highway Patrol arrested 13 Los Angeles residents on Friday.
Four people remained at large.
The investigation uncovered fraudulent documents, falsified insurance paperwork, and information detailing many of the staged collisions, authorities said.
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