NU Online News Service, Jan. 27, 11:59 a.m. EST
The North Carolina Department of Insurance (DOI) said 10 people were arrested and six others are being sought in connection with an alleged staged auto accident ring.
Brothers Howard Earl Whitfield Jr. and Douglas Whitfield were the alleged "ringleaders" of the fraudulent scam to stage auto accidents, the DOI said. Howard Earl Whitfield was apprehended and a warrant has been issued for his brother.
The Whitfield brothers allegedly conspired with family members and others to stage accidents and file insurance claims for accidents that never happened.
Universal Insurance, Farm Bureau Insurance of North Carolina, GMAC Insurance, Nationwide Insurance and GEICO paid out about $76,200 in claims related to the fraudulent claims from August 2009 to January 2010, the DOI said.
Twenty law enforcement officers are employed by the DOI to investigate claims of insurance fraud. The Criminal Investigations Division of the DOI closed more than 400 cases, which resulted in more than $21.1 million in restitution and recoveries to double the amount from the previous year.
The DOI said investigations resulted in 88 criminal convictions and 126 arrests.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
