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Insurance Fraud Bureau awards funding to NWDA for handling insurance fraud allegations

NWDA prosecutes cases of economic fraud
Posted on: January 20, 2022 - 4:40pm
Northwestern DA's office prosecutes cases of insurance fraud

NORTHAMPTON  – A little-known aspect of the work of prosecutors with the Northwestern District Attorney’s office involves economic fraud, often relating to fraudulent insurance claims. While individually, these cases commonly involve relatively small sums, they add up to large amounts that hurt all hard-working people who pay insurance premiums.

On Dec. 22, 2021, Northwestern District Attorney David E. Sullivan and First Assistant Northwestern District Attorney Steven Gagne met with Anthony DiPaolo, Executive Director of the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) of Massachusetts, to receive $30,000 for the NWDA’s work on cases of insurance fraud.

Since 2012, the NWDA has partnered with the IFB to identify and prosecute cases of insurance fraud.  Through that collaboration dozens of instances of insurance fraud—motor vehicle, health care, homeowners coverage, and the like—have been successfully prosecuted in both the Superior and District Courts.  Statewide, these efforts help reduce fraudulent payouts and reduce the premiums paid by law-abiding citizens.

Among the criminal cases referred to NWDA for prosecution in 2021 were:

  • a Franklin County woman who sought an insurance payment claiming her car had been hit while parked, which was disproved through a forensic examination of the damage to her car; and
  • a Hampshire County woman who falsely claimed her car, which had been involved in a hit-and-run crime in Springfield, had been stolen -- but then gave wildly varying stories to police and insurance investigators.

Another case was resolved in Northampton District Court in May of 2021 when a defendant facing criminal charges of filing a false insurance claim and attempting to commit a crime had the charges continued without a finding upon his payment of $425 restitution to his insurance carrier.

These cases are investigated and prosecuted under the larger umbrella of economic crimes.  Although generally not viewed as news-worthy as cases of violent crime, economic fraud does have victims and can inflict serious, long-lasting effects on them.  These crimes often involve complex schemes that target particularly vulnerable victims, such as elderly or disabled individuals.  These cases can involve embezzlement by an employee against their employer, or fraud or exploitation committed against an elder or a person with disabilities.  Since its creation in 2012, the Economic Crimes Unit has investigated and prosecuted crimes involving millions of dollars of losses.

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Criminal charges are based on probable cause to believe a person has committed a crime. All defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.