New York State - Division of Criminal Justice Services

Trends have remained the same in the past few years. Year to date for 2009, thetop five vehicle makes stolen were Nissan, Honda, Toyota, Ford & Chevrolet. This unithas made several arrests for grand larceny auto on “straight steals” and there has beenone arrest for insurance fraud to date. No arrests have been made for arson. There arethree scrap yards on Staten Island and the unit monitors their activity, utilizing closecircuittelevision technology for covert surveillance. These businesses have continued tooperate in a legitimate and lawful manner.Staten Island Auto Larceny UnitPerformance Measure Total Performance Measure TotalMVT investigations initiated 5 Reported motor vehicle thefts 423MVT felony arrests 32 Stolen vehicles recovered 272MVT misdemeanor arrests 16 Value of vehicles recovered $2,000,000MVIF investigations initiated 1 MVIF-related felony arrests 1New York City Police Department – Fraudulent Accident Investigation Squad (FAIS)The FAIS Unit investigates no-fault insurance fraud/medical mills by utilizingundercovers as well as confidential informant. FAIS conducts surveillance on runners,participants, staged accidents and effects arrest in and outside New York City.The unit confers with New York State Insurance Fraud Bureau, National InsuranceCrime Bureau, various insurance carriers/ special investigative units, and PrecinctHighway Safety Units. It also provides mandatory roll call training and attends DCJSWorkshops/training.Estimates by the National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association (NHCAA) put thecost of health care fraud at 3% of all health care spending, for a total of $70 billionannually. There were 15,163 reports of suspected health care fraud received by theNew York State Insurance Frauds Bureau during 2009: 1,488 involved accident andhealth insurance, 242 involved disability insurance and 13,433 involved no-fault. NewYork State has received more than $12 million in refunds and $124,000 in fines fromfive health care providers.The no-fault schemes involving medical mills and staged accidents continue tobe primarily backed by Eastern-European organized crime. Other trends include sideswipeaccidents with three or more people in the vehicle. The subjects are of Haitiandescent, and their true identities are unknown. This ring has registered vehicles tounassuming victims and they have re-registered vehicles after having multiple accidentswith unsuspecting victims. This ring has also assumed the identity of innocent accidentvictims that are targeted during this scheme. While committing this scheme, thesubjects use the information exchanged at the scene of a staged accident, then go to aprecinct and fill out a complaint for stolen/lost license (MV78B) in the name of theinnocent accident victim. The unsuspecting accident victim’s identity would then beproduced at a future suspect accident, with the perpetrator then using the MV78B astheir identification.NYS DIVISION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SERVICES MVTIFP BOARD / ANNUAL REPORT 2009 Page 41