Making up stories is usually reserved to the under-10 age group. Contrived tales of princesses, witches and monsters that are full of outlandish details and occurrences, meant to captivate, and perhaps trick, the audience.
But what happens when this story telling extends beyond elementary school years and into adulthood? Castles and caves are replaced with car accidents and fires. And now, instead of hoping for attention the end goal is money.
As a well-practiced criminal defense attorney in Texas, Henry Wade of The Wade Law Firm has had a lot of criminal cases pass before him, both from his time as a lawyer and as a judge. Insurance fraud, he explains is, most simply put, making up an insurance claim when nothing actually happened.
Sometimes, this is an individual acting on his own, developing an elaborate story that details an event that never occurred, in hopes of getting an insurance company to compensate him. Other times bigger groups work together to create large scale frauds like car wrecks or staged deaths. Instances of health insurance fraud, car insurance fraud and home insurance fraud are quickly on the rise.
What are the penalties for committing insurance fraud?
The current administration is working to tighten the laws regarding insurance fraud. And, according to The Washington Post, by the end of 2009, President Obama is expected to sign an executive order that will center on eliminating government waste and fraud, particularly in Medicare and other benefits programs.
Insurance fraud is a crime on both the civil and criminal level, which means that not only will you have to pay hefty fines upon your conviction, but you can also be sentenced to complete a prison term. Medical insurance fraud for example, is considered a federal crime.
And, as more groups come together to rally against enforcing stricter laws, that would not allow people to so easily receive money on the basis of false claims, the sentencing for these crimes has increased as well, with most of the convicted serving actual jail time.
How does insurance fraud affect you?
Even if you never have committed forgery, you still pay for the money insurance companies mistakenly pay.
The nonprofit group Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, who pride themselves as being a national clearinghouse of fraud information, says that $80 million a year is stolen due to insurance fraud. This correlates to higher premium rates for every insurance policy holder.
Since insurance fraud has become such a serious criminal offense, if you find yourself being investigated or accused, you should contact an experience criminal defense attorney in your area that can help you gather the information you need and prepare you for any interrogations or court dates.
