Sometimes when you read about crime, it doesn’t seem like the lives of criminals would be easier if they were simply doing legal jobs? The Tri-Cities Herald in Washington state reported that 23 people were charged fake a series of car crashesresulting in false injury, to collect insurrance payments close to $first million.
According to an 81-page, 138-point federal indictment of Office of the United States Attorney in Eastern Washingtonwhich was a scheme that involved no less than 14 fake auto accidents.
How does one fake (or rather stage) 14 car crashes? In ways that are both smart and not. First, the crashes occurred over a three-year period. And they often happen on back roads, at night, to make sure there are no witnesses.
Prosecutors say there was no one on the car “victim” in at least three crashes – although someone was driving the car “at fault”, which brings us back to the idea that life would be easier behind the desk, the cashier or whatever. legal. Prosecutors say that in at least two collisions, the perpetrator used a hammer to smash the car’s windows, and in at least one case, the car seat was crushed, so air bag will deploy.
The indictment states that after a collision, the defendant “seekly sought emergency room and medical treatment for symptoms and injuries resulting from a fictional, fabricated, and exaggerated accident,” and hired an injury attorney. individuals to pursue their insurance claims. Prosecutors said one woman, who was a live-in girlfriend of a key mastermind, worked as a case manager at the personal injury law firm Tri-Cities and handled communications with the agents herself. insurance company on claims.
The unwise part of the alleged scheme? Some of the cars involved have crashed the very next day after they have been purchased and insured. And in one case, prosecutors say a woman charged in the scheme crashed into a car driven by her brother. These are details that are sure to make an insurance company sit up and take note.
One crash involved six injury claimants, resulting in nearly $390,000 in damages. Another crash brought in $81,000.
The 23 people charged include four couples, three pairs of siblings and a father and son. They are from the Tri-Cities and from California, Michigan, Nevada and British Columbia. Four of those charged have yet to be located and are considered fugitives.
One of the defendants faces 64 counts. The charges for 23 people spanned quite a bit: mail fraud; wire fraud; conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire transfer fraud; health care fraud conspiracy; witness tampering; attempt to forge evidence; conspiracies to obstruct official progress; and making false statements within the jurisdiction of law enforcement.
One defendant was not charged in the collision. Instead, prosecutors said, he was among those facing charges over what happened afterward. Attempts to thwart the investigation, the federals said, included threats of physical violence, lying to the FBI and making a false claim that an FBI agent paid a $22,000 bribe to do so. for the case to be resolved.
In total, prosecutors say the end-to-end scheme raised $962,300.
Which brings us back to our original no-pay crime premise – or at least, it doesn’t pay well. If 23 people earned a total of $962,300 working legally for 3 years, each person’s salary would be just under $14,000 per year. The supposed plan here pays less than working at McDonald’s.
For more details, see the report in Tri-Cities Herald.
