Virginia State Police Report Slight Uptick in 2013 Fraud Reporting
The Virginia State Police Insurance Fraud Program just released their 2013 Annual Report, which shows the number of notifications received for the crime of insurance fraud slightly increased, and the arrests for insurance fraud and other related crimes, such as arson, forgery and uttering are holding steady.
In 2013, the IFP received 1,994 notifications of suspected insurance fraud, just slightly more than the number of notifications received in 2012. Since 1999, when the insurance fraud unit was formed, more than 21,000 referrals have been made to the VSP. Insurance fraud special agents opened 457 cases in 2013, which is consistent with the number of cases opened in 2012, and made 360 arrests for insurance fraud and other related crimes.
Court-ordered restitution was more than $255,000 in 2013, which brings the total of ordered restitution since 1999 to more than $18 million. Suspected false insurance claims reported to the IFP since 1999, both attempted and collected, reached more than $159 million.
Since the first insurance fraud notification was filed in 1999, agents have made 2,282 arrests for that crime and opened 5,031 fraud investigations. In 2013, the IFP presented 96 cases to the commonwealth’s attorneys, and 300 cases were adjudicated – more than double the number of cases adjudicated in 2012. The large number of adjudicated cases can be attributed to additional charges being brought about after being reviewed by the commonwealth’s attorney, or due to cases opened in previous years that went to court in 2013.
As required by Virginia law, the VSP investigates suspected fraud in property and casualty lines of insurance, as well as suspected workers’ compensation fraud. The 2013 statistics show 1,117 property fraud related notifications were received by the IFP. Notifications involving injury and casualty fraud totaled 551, of which 36 percent were for worker’s compensation claims, the same percentage as 2012. Vehicle fraud is the largest percentage in both categories.
The VSP is committed to “Stamp Out” insurance fraud occurring in the Commonwealth. Insurance fraud is not a victimless crime, and its economic impact is second only to tax evasion according to the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud.
Source: Virginia State Police