Investigators Catch Auto Insurance Fraud Ring

Auto insurance companies paid out more than $1 million in claims for fake car accidents, according to investigators. The extensive scheme included dozens of people and this week the man police say was at the head of the scam was sentenced to four to ten years in state prison in Pennsylvania. Forty-four-year-old Wallace Morris Sr, also known as “Popsicle” and “Pops” also faces federal charges, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Authorities say Morris pleaded guilty to his involvement in 44 fake car accidents in order to collect insurance money. The judge also ordered Morris to repay about $440,000 to 17 different insurance companies that Morris scammed. The insurance companies include AIG, Allstate, Geico, Liberty Mutual, Nationwide, Progressive, and State Farm, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. While Morris was at the head of the insurance fraud operation, officers say Philadelphia police officers Deshane Riggins and Drexel Reid Jr. were a part of it too. Riggins wrote fake accident reports for Morris, according to reports.

For a period of two years, from 2004 to 2006, Morris lead a fraud ring that included at least 268 relatives, friends and acquaintences. The District Attorney’s Office says Morris orchestrated the submission of 187 fake insurance claims. Officials say each phony accident usually involved two vehicles with three passengers in each car so that six claims were generated. So far, nearly 100 arrests have been made, but more could be on the way.

According KYW, the assistant district attorney says Morris’ friends and relatives would claim they were injured in accidents that never happened. “Mr. Wallace Morris was a co-conspirator in a large insurance fraud scheme totalling in 44 car accidents, 115- arrests, over $1-million loss to 17 insurance companies,” Linda Montag told KYW. The judge in the case also mentioned the irony in the fact that Morris stated his transportation company went out of business because of high insurance costs.