La. State Police Issue Warrants in Fake Accident Scam

Louisiana state police allege that an insurance scam in Louisiana involving fake traffic wrecks netted nearly $200,000 over seven years, the Associated Press reported.

State police issued arrest warrants for 13 people in the New Orleans area, including the alleged ringleader who had worked as a private investigator handling insurance fraud cases. At least eight had been arrested.

Authorities said the investigation began when a 27-year-old woman called Direct General Insurance Co. in January and said she had been involved in staging an accident in October 2002.

“The woman just decided that what she was doing wasn’t right,” Trooper Omar Landrum, a state police spokesman, told the AP.

State police said they had identified 70 suspicious accidents that took place from 1997 until earlier this year. They said about $193,000 was paid to settle the false claims.

State police said they believe the ringleader was Elton Calloway, a private investigator who involved family members and friends in the alleged frauds.

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