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California Breaks Up Car Crash Ring Involved In Car Insurance Fraud
November 13th, 2009
After a yearlong investigation into staged car accidents in California, Jay Stoney Anderson was recently arrested as the alleged leader of a car crash ring. The alleged car insurance ring fraudulently collected money from various insurance companies after staging violent auto accidents. The amount they collected in insurance payouts is estimated to be more than $200,000. Steve Poizner, the California Insurance Commissioner, publicized there would be 28 counts filed against Anderson. The Auto Insurance Fraud Task Force (AIFTF) has since made eight related arrests throughout San Diego County, with more apprehensions anticipated. Eighty-three felony counts filed in the San Diego County District Attorney's Office stem from car insurance fraud. In a press release statement Poizner stated “innocent lives or other drivers are at risk when these criminals engage in staged auto accidents seeking monetary gains.”
Those involved in the fraudulent scheme, staged automobile mishaps so that they could illegally collect funds from the insurance companies. They performed a tactical maneuver called the hammer and nail. The “hammer” vehicle hits the “nail” vehicle. The “hammer” vehicle, usually a stolen car that has been reported as such prior to the accident, is then abandoned before the police arrive. Those in the nail vehicle complain of soft tissue injuries and proceed to seek hospital treatment. They then file a personal injury car insurance claim, and collect a payment directly from the car insurance company. This dismantled band of thieves sought compensation from at least seven insurance companies in relation to set-up accidents. Not only did they collect checks from the insurance companies, but the injured passengers allegedly failed to pay the hospital bills made during the fraudulent acts.
A break in one staged accident led the detectives to a link between the hammer and nail passengers. A backpack belonging to a passenger in the nailed vehicle indicated he had been in the hammer vehicle at the same accidental collision – even though the hammer vehicle had no driver or occupants according to the reports. Many connections linked the passengers of each collision to Anderson. Presently in custody for violation of his probation, 31-year-old Anderson, of Chula Vista, Calif., faces up to 11 years in prison for his involvement in the car crash ring.
In the investigations, seven different insurance companies have paid to the suspects of this scheme. Matthew Barnes, a California Department of Insurance Detective, led the Auto Insurance Fraud Task Force team that did this investigation. The other members of the group were part of the San Diego AIFTF, which includes Department of Insurance detectives, California Highway Patrol Investigators from the San Diego District Attorney's office and a special agent from the National Insurance Crime Bureau.
