Health Insurance - Miscellany - ABI supports police in crackdown on fraud

"The Association of British Insurers (ABI) is to fund a specialist police unit dedicated to combating insurance fraud, set up through a police-private sector partnership.
The unit, supported by the National Fraud Authority, and operated by the City of London Police’s Economic Crime Directorate, will be funded for the next three years by members of the ABI, and will be subject to an evaluation after two years.
It will provide additional operational capability to the Directorate, focusing solely on tackling insurance fraud, a crime valued at £2bn per year – which adds an extra £44 a year to each premium paid by consumers.
The unit, which aims to go live on 1 January 2012, will consist of 35 specialist fraud detectives and police support staff and will provide a dedicated response to threats posed to the insurance industry by both organised gangs and opportunist fraudsters."

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UK insurers to fund police anti-fraud unit | Reuters

"The 35-strong force is tasked with tackling a crime that costs the insurance industry 2 billion pounds a year, adding 44 pounds to the average consumer's premium payments, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI).
An ABI spokesman said figures for 2009, the most recent available, showed that between 4 and 5 percent of insurance claims were fraudulent, an increase on the previous year.
Insurance fraud typically rises during economic downturns as cash-strapped individuals and businesses seek to bolster their income by filing exaggerated or wholly fictitious claims.
Some of the recent increase in insurance fraud could also reflect improved detection rates, the ABI spokesman said.
The new police unit will form part of the economic crime directorate of the City of London police, which oversees the capital's financial district, and will be up and running in January 2012."

Via UK insurers to fund police anti-fraud unit | Reuters

Conn. man pleads guilty in mortgage fraud - BusinessWeek

"Federal prosecutors say a Stamford, Conn. man has pleaded guilty to wire fraud related to a $4 million mortgage scheme.
Connecticut U.S. Attorney David Fein said Monday that Christian Tudorof waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty in New Haven to one count of wire fraud.
Fein says the 43-year-old Tudorof submitted mortgage applications to several lenders for homes in Arizona, Connecticut and Florida in 2006 and 2007. The prosecutor says that in many of the mortgage applications, Tudorof provided false information.
Fein says each of the homes Tudorof bought was sold in foreclosure and mortgage lenders lost more than $2 million.
He faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of as much as $4 million when he is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 4."

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