More than 1,000 arrested in five-year insurance fraud campaign

LYNN – Anti-fraud crackdowns locally and in Revere helped dropped the automobile insurance claims filed over the last five years from 43 to 28 claims per 100 accidents, according to the Insurance Fraud Bureau of Massachusetts.Beginning in July 2004 when it launched Lynn’s anti-fraud campaign, the Bureau has helped bring charges against 15 local individuals for attempting to commit insurance fraud.To date, 11 Bureau investigations, including ones in Lynn and Revere, have led to insurance fraud charges filed against more than 1,000 individuals, including lawyers, chiropractors and “runners” who have facilitated these schemes.Lynn’s high auto accident injury rate in 2003 indicated to police and the IFB investigators that fraudulent filers were active in the city. For every 100 drivers filing accident reports, 71 claimed injury versus only 43 out of 100 statewide.Bureau statistics pegged Revere in 2007 as one of the communities with the highest rates of auto accidents and injuries in Massachusetts and, consequently, among the highest costs for auto insurance.Bureau Executive Director Daniel Johnston said both cities have shared in enforcement efforts resulting in more than 20 percent total reduction in state-set average auto insurance rates.In addition, auto claims payments declined by a total of more than $252 million by the end of 2007.”While other factors also contribute to the decline in claims – such as yearly weather conditions, road conditions, general driving habits, intensified fraud legislation and heightened awareness of the anti-fraud efforts – the elimination of fraud has the biggest impact on these positive trends,” said Johnston.Insurance companies have funded the Bureau’s work since 1990. Its investigators work with police, insurance company special investigative units, Blodgett’s and the Attorney General’s office to investigate and prosecute fraud.Fraud rings involving attorneys, chiropractors, physical therapists and automotive body shop operators recruit drivers to file false insurance claims.The schemes vary in sophistication. In some cases, individuals take their vehicles to a remote location and deliberately drive into each other then file an accident claim.Working with Lynn police and District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett’s office, the Bureau began targeting fraud schemes in 2004. In 2007, it worked with Revere police and Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley to crack down on local fraud.A billboard unveiled at 430 Broadway in January 2007 offered rewards up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of individuals involved in auto fraud.Established in 1991 under state law, the Bureau is the only investigative agency of its kind in the country that is privately funded by the state’s insurance industry.