New York State - Division of Criminal Justice Services

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In the area of insurance fraud, much of the problem in the county remainsorganized in complex criminal enterprises that are difficult to infiltrate. These enterprisestake advantage of numerous manifestations of property and personal injury claiminsurance fraud, including false stolen vehicles reports, enhanced collision damageclaims, owner-give-ups, “bump and run” schemes, staged accidents and sophisticatedno-fault medical mill scams. Although the office has have made great strides ininsurance fraud by shutting down numerous fraudulent medical clinics, new onescontinue to emerge in the County.The following are examples of successful investigative and prosecutorial effortsin both the auto crime and insurance fraud areas in 2009:1. A chiropractor with a practice in Woodhaven was charged with insurance fraudand other charges after allegedly convincing a “patient” to fabricate injuriesand then billing an insurance company more than $26,000 for medicaltreatments over three months. The defendant then allegedly gave a $1,000kickback to the “patient,” who was actually an undercover investigator.Charges remain pending at this time.2. Eight alleged members of an auto theft ring - including a public schoolassistant principal - were indicted on charges involving the alleged theft of 16late model, high-end automobiles with a total value exceeding $400,000mostly from dealership parking lots in Queens County and elsewhere. Some ofthe automobiles - the majority of which were 2008 BMWs, Mercedes Benzesand Lincolns - had their vehicle identification numbers changed or alteredbefore being resold. The charges are the result of a joint undercoverinvestigation by the New York City Police Department's Auto Crime Divisionand the Queens District Attorney's Organized Crime and Rackets Bureau. Todate, these charges have resulted in two jail sentences, one conditionalcharge sentence, and one jail/probation split sentence; remaining chargesremain pending at this time.3. A Middle Village physician who was to begin trial on charges of falsely billinginsurance carriers under New York's no-fault law for costly medical tests heallegedly never provided to motor vehicle accident victims pled guilty to fourthdegree insurance fraud. He is the second doctor charged with insurance fraudfrom the same Jamaica, Queens clinic. The defendant was charged withallegedly submitting insurance claims for costly nerve conduction studies andneedle electromyographs between January and December 2006 that, in fact,were not performed on seven individuals. As a result of the alleged falseclaims, insurance companies paid out more than $21,000 to the defendant'semployer - the medical clinic. The defendant received a conditional dischargesentence.NYS DIVISION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SERVICES MVTIFP BOARD / ANNUAL REPORT 2009 Page 30
Office of the Queens County District AttorneyPerformance Measure Total Performance Measure TotalMVT investigations initiated 6 MVIF investigations initiated 6MVT investigations filed with SAFETNet 28 MVIF investigations filed with SAFETNet 60Hits resulting from SAFETNet 3 Hits resulting from SAFETNet 0MVT related misdemeanor prosecutions 197 MVIF related misdemeanor prosecutions 12MVT related felony prosecutions 17 MVIF related felony prosecutions 19MVT warrants issued 11 Warrants issued 2Richmond County Office of the District AttorneyThe Motor Vehicle Theft and Insurance Fraud Prevention Program (MVTIFP)operates under the aegis of the Supreme Court Investigations Bureau within the Officeof the Richmond County District Attorney. The allocated funds were applied to thepartial salaries of five program staff. Case prosecution protocols include the involvementof an assigned assistant district attorney (ADA) as early as case investigation andthrough the disposition. The Investigations Bureau Chief assigns felony program cases,oversees their prosecution, provides advice to prosecutors and confers with the DistrictAttorney regarding specific program cases. The grant program’s assigned SupremeCourt assistant district attorney investigates and prosecutes felony program cases.Added to the program last year were two staff prosecutors from Criminal Court. Theyinvestigate and prosecute misdemeanor cases and maintain the statistics formisdemeanor convictions.In Richmond County, there were 424 vehicles reported stolen during 2009, with242 vehicle recoveries. During that same period, 54 felony arrests for motor vehicletheft were prosecuted. In Criminal Court, the reported prosecution was 77 misdemeanorarrests for motor vehicle theft and 10 misdemeanor arrests for insurance fraud.The overall goal of the MVTIFP plan is the continuation of the successfulreduction of motor vehicle theft and insurance fraud crime. Vehicle thefts in RichmondCounty appear to be crimes of opportunity. Generally, motor vehicle theft has slightlydecreased.In one investigation, the senior detective investigator, accompanied by otherinvestigators, equipped with a New York Statewide Police Information Network(NYSPIN) access mobile computer, patrolled local areas and randomly checked licenseplates for stolen vehicles. The senior detective investigator also is the program liaison toother law enforcement agencies, and the office participated with investigations initiatedby other law enforcement agencies. While working with other agencies, sharedintelligence is collected from reliable information provided by creditable confidentialinformants. The Office of the Richmond County District Attorney during this funding yearcontinued to develop relationships with confidential informants; as a result of informationprovided, search warrants were obtained and four individuals were arrested on felonycounts of insurance fraud.NYS DIVISION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SERVICES MVTIFP BOARD / ANNUAL REPORT 2009 Page 31
Page 4 and 5: Table of ContentsPageI. Introductio
Page 6 and 7: All of the tasks outlined above are
Page 8 and 9: addition, officers representing 16
Page 10 and 11: 1000Motor Vehicle Theft Rate/100K P
Page 12 and 13: The Division of Criminal JusticeSer
Page 14 and 15: These crimes add an estimated 10% t
Page 16 and 17: per 100,000), Richmond County (111.
Page 18 and 19: 2. Methods for combating the proble
Page 20 and 21: SUMMARY OF BOARD ACTIVITY ON Septem
Page 22 and 23: DCJS StaffRon DickensVal Friedlande
Page 24 and 25: Western Region AgenciesAmountApplic
Page 26 and 27: VI. 2009 Grant Program Descriptions
Page 28 and 29: According to the New York City Poli
Page 30 and 31: in 2009, an enterprise corruption i
Page 32 and 33: corporation that defrauded the city
Page 36 and 37: Despite warnings and public service
Page 38 and 39: Patrol Borough Manhattan North repo
Page 40 and 41: confines of Brooklyn South and the
Page 42 and 43: ecovered with seats, doors, and oth
Page 44 and 45: Borough Queens North are evidenced
Page 46 and 47: FAIS STRATEGIES• Use confidential
Page 48 and 49: motor vehicle insurance fraud are d
Page 50 and 51: investigation and utilized all reso
Page 52 and 53: the help of funding received from o
Page 54 and 55: with investigators from both agenci
Page 56 and 57: offering hands-on demonstrations re
Page 58 and 59: Western RegionBuffalo City Police D
Page 60 and 61: agencies with similar investigation
Page 62 and 63: PD, National Insurance Crime Bureau
Page 64 and 65: Another case that was recently indi
Page 66 and 67: complainant; this is now happening
Page 68 and 69: Niagara Falls City Police Departmen
Page 70 and 71: motor vehicles are assigned to this
Page 72 and 73: The District Attorney’s Office sp
Page 74 and 75: scene; younger suspects would use t
Page 76 and 77: One theft for transportation invest
Page 78 and 79: Rochester Police DepartmentPerforma
Page 80 and 81: Both agencies are continuing the in
Page 82 and 83: November 2009 - A targeted patrol o
Page 84 and 85:
where defendants seek specific part
Page 86 and 87:
had knowledge that the car was stol
Page 88 and 89:
Reported Incidents of Motor Vehicle
Page 90 and 91:
Incidence of Motor Vehicle Thefts:
Page 92 and 93:
REPORTED MOTOR VEHICLE THEFTS: 2008
Page 94 and 95:
Motor Vehicle Thefts Rates per Popu
Page 96 and 97:
Motor Vehicle Thefts Rates per Regi
Page 98 and 99:
Motor Vehicle Insurance Fraud Suspe
Page 100:
MVIF 2009 Rate per Population2009Ra
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New York State - Division of Criminal Justice Services

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