Cranberry Sports Store Owner Sentenced For Strip Mall Arson

PITTSBURGH - The business owner who paid a teen to set fire to his Cranberry Township sports store was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison.

Thomas Smith II, of Wheeling, W. Va., pleaded guilty in February to federal charges of arson and insurance fraud in connection with the fire at Cranberry Towne Center Plaza on Route 19.

Prosecutors said Smith, 26, was having financial problems and solicited three juveniles to set fire to Play It Again Sports in January 2007. One of the teens agreed, and Smith showed him how to set the fire by using a heat gun.

Investigators said after the store closed, the teen used the heat gun to ignite several cardboard boxes in the back room of the store and left the building. The ensuing fire destroyed Smith's business, as well as damaging three other businesses in the strip mall.

U.S. District Judge Gustave Diamond sentenced Smith to five years of supervised release once he completes his prison term and ordered him to pay nearly $1.2 million in restitution to the damaged businesses and the insurance companies that paid his fraudulent claims.


http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/

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Officials say auto-insurance fraud rising during recession

Insurance officials in several states say they've seen a notable increase in auto-insurance fraud over the past few years, a phenomenon they attribute to growing desperation over the economy. While officials say it's typically easy to tell when someone has burned their own car to cover up fraud, vehicle-related arson is up 62.3% in Ohio between 2004 and 2007, and other states have seen similar upticks. "Morally, these people find it easy to rationalize torching their car, because they don't view insurance fraud as a real, live crime," said Coalition Against Insurance Fraud representative James Quiggle. "They don't consider the cost of these crimes are being passed on to all the policyholders in the form of higher premiums."

Dayton Daily News

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More car owners dumping vehicles to collect insurance money

Research by the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud shows a growing number of people are dumping their cars for insurance money. Owner give-ups include arson and flooding or abandoning cars. In New Jersey, suspected arsons went from 59 in 2004 to 94 in 2008 so far. "Insurance fraud normally increases during a troubled economy," said Dennis Jay, CAIF's executive director.
National Underwriter

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Insurers need to go on PR offensive to fight fraud

Consumers increasingly distrust insurers and see insurance fraud as a victimless crime, according to a new report from the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. In order to reverse this trend, insurers need to engage the public and teach them about the real costs of fraud, writes CAIF Executive Director Dennis Jay. "If insurers poured just a small fraction of the estimated $30 billion in annual fraud losses into public-outreach efforts, and reduced losses even by a small percent, the return would more than justify the investment," he writes.

National Underwriter

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Insurance Fraud

A Paynesville man has appeared in court on charges of felony insurance fraud.

40-year-old Brian Paglusch is charged with felony insurance fraud for having someone steal his ATV in order for him to collect the insurance money, then getting it back and hiding it.

According to court documents back in August, Willmar Police responded to a theft report by Paglusch.

He claimed his 2005 Polaris Sportsman four-wheeler and trailer were stolen.

This past March the Kandiyohi Sheriff received an anonymous letter saying Paglusch had falsely reported the ATV stolen and gave the whereabouts of the ATV.

Detectives went to the location and discovered the four-wheeler.

Paglusch received more than $5,000 from his insurance company.

He has been released on his own recognizance and his next court appearance is set for June 1st.


http://ksax.com/

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Man sentenced to prison for fire at Cranberry sports store

A West Virginia man was sentenced to five years in prison this morning for having a teenager set fire to his Cranberry store to collect insurance money.

Thomas H. Smith II, 26, of Wheeling, was in substantial debt when on Jan. 9, 2007, he offered a 16-year-old store employee $5,000 to burn down his Play It Again Sports store. He then showed the boy how to use a heat gun to set cardboard on fire in a back room. Mr. Smith left the store on Route 19, and it later burned down.

After the fire, which caused more than $1million in damage to the four stores within the strip mall, Mr. Smith filed insurance claims for $30,000. As part of his sentence by Senior U.S. District Judge Gustave Diamond, Mr. Smith must pay more than $1.1 million in restitution.

He pleaded guilty to arson and insurance fraud and will be allowed to self-report to prison.

http://www.post-gazette.com/

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Mississippi Ex-Deputy Sheriff Faces Sentencing for Insurance Fraud

A former Bolivar County, Mississippi, sheriff's deputy is scheduled for sentencing July 17 on an insurance fraud conviction.

Attorney General Jim Hood's office says 46-year-old Marvin Johnson, who is also a former Rosedale police officer, was found guilty of felony insurance fraud in Panola County Circuit Court. Officials say Johnson filed a fraudulent insurance claim form for the theft of a personal vehicle on Dec. 7, 2005.

He faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://www.claimsjournal.com/

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Kandiyohi County man faces insurance fraud for arranging ATV theft

WILLMAR – Brian Lee Paglusch, 40, of Paynesville, made his first appearance Thursday on a felony insurance fraud charge for allegedly having someone steal his four-wheeler, collecting the insurance money, getting the ATV back and hiding it on a farm.

He was released on his personal recognizance. His next appearance in Kandiyohi County District Court is June 1.

According to the complaint, on Aug. 16, 2006, a Willmar police officer was called to a High Avenue address to take a theft report. A man, Paglusch, reported that someone had stolen a 2005 Polaris Sportsman four-wheeler and a snowmobile trailer. Paglusch signed the forms required to report a stolen vehicle on Aug. 31.

On March 23 of this year, the Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Office received an anonymous letter stating that Paglusch had falsely reported the four-wheeler stolen, had collected insurance money and was still in possession of the vehicle. The letter also stated the four-wheeler was stored at a rural Atwater farm.

The next day, two detectives went to the farm, talked to the owner and learned that the ATV had been moved there about a week ago from a neighboring farm. The officers located the four-wheeler and determined that the vehicle identification number was the same as that of the ATV reported stolen in 2006.

Information from the insurance company showed that $5,186 had been paid out to Paglusch on his claim reporting the theft. An affidavit of restitution filed by the company claims a loss of $2,681, which notes the ATV has since been sold by the company at auction for $2,800.

Paglusch was interviewed and allegedly admitted to arranging for the four-wheeler to be stolen, making the insurance claim, paying off the bank note and having money left over. He said he got the ATV back seven to eight months after reporting it stolen.


http://www.dl-online.com/

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Fraud Charged To Indiana Police

A St. Joseph County, Ind., police officer who allegedly crashed a rental car while doing emergency driving moves he had recently learned at the police academy has been charged with conspiracy to commit insurance fraud.

Prosecutors allege that Gary Newcomb, 35, had been drinking before the crash on Aug. 31, 2003, and was worried he might lose his job. James M. Miller, 32, who had rented the car, was worried he would be held liable for the damages to the car.

The pair, along with Newcomb's then-wife, RaLynne C. Newcomb, who was a front-seat passenger at the time of the crash, agreed to tell police that Miller was driving and crashed when he swerved to avoid a deer, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in court. The Newcombs agreed to pay any expenses incurred by Miller, including the insurance deductible and any increase in insurance premiums, the affidavit alleges.

Miller's insurance company, Farm Bureau Insurance, paid Hertz $17,209 to cover the damages to the car.

All three were charged with conspiracy to commit insurance fraud. If convicted, they face up to eight years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

Newcomb has been placed on administrative leave with pay, Sgt. Bill Redman, a spokesman for the St. Joseph County police department, said. Redman said the department also will conduct an internal investigation.
Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://www.insurancejournal.com/

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NYC Starbucks' explosion

Although it is too early to speculate on the motives behind the explosion outside a Manhattan Starbucks, that has not deterred right-wing bloggers whose hatred of Islam is a key component of their groupthink. Although it was one of their own who was tried and executed for the bombings in Oklahoma City, they blamed Muslims first.

While others are prepared to "round up the usual suspects", any through investigation would not dismiss the possibility that it was an inside job. Businesses large and small commit insurance fraud that involves destroying their own property, especially through the use of arson. Corporations in the US also have a long history of using unscrupulous tactics and outright violence to prevent workers from organizing. If management was somehow connected to this incident, it would not be the first time that the elites have used explosives to erode popular support for workers' struggles.

Pinkerton Detective Agency spy, James McParlan, was famous for these kinds of "false-flag" operations. McParlan framed the immigrant miners known as the "Molly Maguires" for murder and other violent acts in Pennsylvania coal country and coerced a miner who used dynamite to assasinate a former Idaho governor responsible for atrocities in an usucessful effort to frame the leaders of the Western Federation of Miners for the bombing. The Pinkerton Agency, infamous locally for its role in the Homestead Massacre, frequently employed these kinds of tactics to erode popular support for organizing efforts and to kill or imprison workers, especially their leaders.

During the famed "Bread and Roses", textile strike of 1912, in Lawrence, Massachusets there was another attempt to discredit the mostly female workers, by planting dynamite in several locations around Lawrence. The press was quick to blame the strikers, but a local undertaker who had recieved a substantial cash payment he could not explain, from the owner of the textile mill, was arrested and fined $500 for his efforts to discredit the strikers. Union organizers were also blamed for the death of a striker who was shot and killed by the police, but later acquitted.

Starbucks, despite their best attempts at marketing and public relations, is currently suffering from image problems and a slumping economy. The company's words and actions during five years of an organzing campaign by the IWW Starbucks Workers' Union contradict the socially conscious, responsible image they wish to present to the people who consume their (overpriced, overroasted) products. None of this means that Starbucks would resort to explosives to discredit workers who are trying to organize themselves, but if they did, they would not be the first.

http://www.examiner.com/

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Florida Mafia Crew Charged Insurance Fraud

Eleven men have been charged with racketeering conspiracy for their roles in an alleged Florida crew of New York's Bonanno Mafia family.

A grand jury indictment unsealed Thursday charges them with numerous crimes, including extortion, insurance fraud, Medicare fraud, arson, manufacturing fraudulent checks, sale of stolen goods, money laundering and murder conspiracy.

Nine of those charged made initial appearances Thursday in Fort Lauderdale federal court. It wasn't immediately clear whether the men had attorneys.

The crew was infiltrated by an undercover FBI agent posing as a corrupt businessman with access to crooked bankers and foreign bank accounts.

The racketeering charge carries a maximum 20-year prison sentence.

http://www.claimsjournal.com/

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Wife and Gangster charged with Insurance Fraud

An alleged Houston gangster and his attorney wife are out on bond. Both were taken into custody and charged with money laundering last week.

The bizarre story began to unfold four months ago. That’s when Drug Enforcement Agents and Houston Police Gang Division officers say they came across William Harigan Rambo III while conducting a drug investigation.

Investigators say while working undercover, they bought the drug ecstasy from Rambo. He then allegedly told them about his wife and how they were able to hide drug money. Police say that is when they began to investigate.

Rambo’s wife is 39-year-old Grace Kopacz. She is a law partner with Mokaram Freeman & Kopacz. Their offices are located in the Galleria area, where on Friday afternoon, police came and arrested Kopacz.

Kopacz and her husband have been charged with money laundering and are scheduled to appear before a judge in the Harris County Criminal Justice Center this week.

Kopacz has also been charged with insurance fraud. The DEA says she recently filed an insurance claim stating that one of her vehicles had been stolen, but she allegedly had arranged for her vehicle to disappear.

We don’t know how Kopacz originally met her husband, but he has been in trouble with the law before.

The DEA says he is a member of the Dirty White Boys prison gang, a group that associates itself with the Aryan Brotherhood.

http://www.khou.com/

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Lives risk By Insurance false claims

While figures from the Insurance Fraud Bureau confirmed there has been an 11% reduction in so-called "crash for cash" crimes on the roads of the UK there are concerns that fraudsters and crooks are targeting specific areas of the UK. The so-called "crash for cash" scam involves fraudsters and crooks staging a variety of traffic accidents often involving innocent drivers, which have resulted in significant insurance claims. A number of claims have been for upwards of £50,000 and without evidence of fraudulent activity many insurance companies have been forced to pay out.

However, surveillance systems such as those run by the Insurance Fraud Bureau are starting to have an impact with repeat offenders now under surveillance and significant claims being dismissed out of hand. One problem the authorities are having is the fact that even though they have been successful targeting a number of larger groups, when one gang closes down another one very quickly appears in its place. When you consider there are literally millions of pounds at stake it appears that many are willing to take the chance.

Aside from the fraud angle, the staging of these "innocent" motoring accidents has and continues to put lives at risk involving people who are totally innocent and unaware what is going on.

http://www.financialadvice.co.uk/

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Fake Car Crash with 500 Pounds

A grinning rogue offers to stage car crashes and then con insurance companies into paying up.

Mohammed Jamil, 34, can arrange for his cronies to expertly make innocent drivers smash into vehicles.

Then - through his own firm 1st Choice Accident Claims in London's East End - he offers to lodge exaggerated injury and damages claims with the innocent driver's insurer. Claims can amount to thousands of pounds each - with Jamil taking a cut.

His fake crash scam - along with others which police know operate throughout Britain - cost insurance firms millions a year and are reckoned to put up the average yearly premium for every motorist by £40. And drivers who get tangled up in the scam can lose their no-claims discount AND run the risk of being injured. Similar cons in the US have led to deaths.

People After a tip-off, one of our undercover investigators posing as an eastern European in need of cash phoned Jamil.

He was eager to meet, only pausing to ask where our man had got his details.

It soon seemed clear that Jamil and his cronies have caused crashes. He admitted: "I have done for many people."

A few minutes into the meeting, Jamil suggested they arrange a crash that day.

Our man asked whether he needed to be in the car. Jamil replied: "No. My guys do the crash. After the crash I call you. I explain to you where the action is.

"You go to that place. I give you pictures as well. [And tell you] who has hit you, whether it's a lorry or car, or black man or English or Asian or anyone. I give you the details." Jamil said they should claim there were two other people in the car - our man was asked to provide two names - and he would claim damages for them too. Jamil said: "The passenger injury claim may be £3,000 per person. And you get a decent hire car free for a few months until it is sorted."

A second People investigator posing as a Bangladeshi man desperate for cash for his new baby met Jamil last week.

This time, Jamil said our man would be with his crash driver. He said: "My brother is driving. You sitting with him. as passenger. [When] everybody coming out you mention you [are] the driver."

He said our man could claim for himself and two passengers, saying: "Three people, no more." Jamil outlined the profits for our man: "Injury, it depends, some people take £5,000, some people take £2,000." He explained which injuries to fake: "You telling the doctor you got pain in the neck, back or leg. X-ray can't find pain or no pain."

Jamil, summing up his service, added: "Bruv, look, it's money, end of the day." The crook outlined his fees. Our man was quoted £500. Jamil said this covered the cost of the driver who would engineer the crash. And for each successful payout for the bogus injury claim, he demanded £299 for "accident management".

Jamil - who drives a £40,000 Chrysler and lives in a £350,00 house - explained: "I need £500 or £600 from people. Cash - it's a dodgy thing. I can't take cheque."

Our investigators declined Jamil's offers, although there is no suggestion that every claim he makes is fraudulent.

Sue Jones of the Insurance Fraud Bureau, warning about the upsurge in crash-for-cash scams across Britain, said: "These gangs engineer situations which the innocent driver has no time to avoid, like suddenly pulling out of a junction. There is a real risk to innocent people.

"And the cost to insurers has a knockon effect on everyone's premiums."

When confronted yesterday, Jamil said: "I am very hardworking. I don't think I am doing anything wrong."

daniel.jones@people.co.uk
http://www.people.co.uk/

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One gang, 300 accidents with £5m of claims

A gang tried to claim £5million from insurers in a string of bogus car accidents stretching over two-and-a-half years.

The gang set up more than 300 accidents across London.

In each, two to four individuals claimed they had been injured. In some cases, actors were hired to feign injuries, fooling even medical professionals with symptoms of whiplash.

But insurers became suspicious after checks revealed that the same bank accounts, phone numbers and addresses were appearing again and again.

The Insurance Fraud Bureau contacted City of London Police and the two launched an 18-month investigation.

Two members of the gang were found guilty at Blackfriars Crown Court and sentenced in March.

Iranian asylum-seeker Hussein Hassani, 29, was sentenced to four years in prison. He skipped bail during the trial but was later recaptured and given an extra four months on his sentence.

Ahmad Bolkhari-Ghahi, 24, was jailed for 40 months.

Judge Daniel Worsley described the case as 'a cunning, sophisticated and meticulously planned' fraud.

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Evil on the A666 as crash-for-cash cheats put lives at risk

Insurers are calling for more police forces to get involved in the fight against fraudulent motor accidents. Although these often involve innocent drivers, they are staged by criminals who then submit fake insurance claims of up to £50,000 a time.

Figures from the Insurance Fraud Bureau show that there has been an 11 per cent reduction in organised 'crash-for-cash' crime in the past two years, led by a notable reduction in areas where the police have become heavily involved, including Luton, Harrow, north-west London, and Walsall.

But the bureau, set up three years ago to lead the fight against organised fraud, also says that crash-forcash crime is rising in areas where police are not engaging with insurers, such as Liverpool, Halifax and Ilford and Barking in east London.

Richard Davies, the bureau deputy chairman and fraud manager at Axa Insurance, says: 'We targeted some of the biggest gangs first, but new ones are emerging all the time and we can only combat them with the help of police.'

Three main types of accident come under the crash-for-cash label. The most dangerous are induced accidents, where crooks deliberately engineer a crash with an innocent driver. This will typically happen at a roundabout or motorway junction, with the fraudster's car manoeuvring in front of a target vehicle then suddenly braking to trigger a crash.

Staged accidents involve two vehicles both controlled by fraudsters. They set up a collision or damage the cars using hammers and then submit claims.

A third variation is the paper claim. Here the cars never even touch each other, with crooks submitting a claim based around bogus paperwork.

Scott Clayton, claims fraud manager at Zurich Insurance, says: 'As well as multiple passengers, all of whom claim injuries such as whiplash, claims can be inflated by high bills for courtesy cars and repairs. A seemingly minor bump can inflate into a £50,000 bill.'

Fraud adds an estimated £40 to the cost of the average annual motor insurance policy.

Liz Ecroyd was the unwitting victim of an induced accident in October 2006 when her Land Rover Freelander was involved in a smash with two other cars on the A666 near Bolton, Lancashire.

Liz, 53, who lives in nearby Bury, says: 'An old Vauxhall Astra was travelling alongside me then suddenly zoomed ahead and cut across in front of a second black Astra, causing it to stop suddenly. I managed to brake and not hit them, but a third car then hit me and pushed me into the black Astra.'

All drivers exchanged details and nothing seemed suspicious. But Liz, who at the time ran a pub with her partner David Ogden, 44, was later contacted by her insurer, esure, which had doubts about the accident.

Liz says: 'The owner of the black Astra claimed it was written off and that four passengers were injured. I told esure I had seen the car drive away without much damage and that there were only two passengers.'

The insurer linked this incident to several others involving the same person as either a driver or passenger. This included another smash on the A666 just eight days later.

Esure refused to pay. When the other driver tried to uphold his claim in court, Liz appeared as a defence witness. The courts found in favour of the insurer in February 2008, concluding that the accident had been staged.

Liz, now working as a saleswoman for a national cash-and-carry firm, says: 'Fortunately, no one was hurt in my incident, but it's a fine line. I'm so angry that you have these people profiteering out of ordinary motorists.'

The IFB has helped police make more than 300 arrests since it was formed in July 2006, with active operations in areas covered by 13 police forces.

Mihir Pandya, fraud manager at insurer Allianz, says: 'Setting up the IFB has improved collaboration with the police.' It is increasingly targeting professionals, such as corrupt solicitors who work with staged accident gangs.

But fraudsters are constantly evolving their tactics. Recent trends include targeting lorries registered overseas for induced accidents in the hope that claims against overseas insurers will slip through UK antifraud systems.

There are also fears that the recession-could cause an increase in fraudulent motor accidents.

Norwich Union, for example, identified 30 per cent more fraudulent claims last year than in 2007. Davies says: 'I fear we will see more opportunists trying their luck.'

Insurers are urging any driver who is involved in a crash to be alert.

Clayton says: 'Our fight relies on having good evidence and that is where drivers can help us. If you feel it is safe to do so then snap a couple of pictures of the incident on your mobile phone and note as many details as you can of the other vehicle. Also assess how old the other driver was and what they looked like. Note down how many passengers were in the other car and what exactly was damaged.'

If you suspect fraud, call the Insurance Fraud Bureau's confidential cheatline on 0800 328 2550 or visit insurancefraudbureau.org.

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