New York Fraud Investigators Arrested 668 People Last Year

New York investigators arrested 668 people accused of insurance fraud last year, including a Brooklyn woman arrested after a fist-fight, a surgeon who made $3.5 million by billing for working more than 24 hours a day and a liquor store owner who said assailants tied him up and left him inside his burning building.

Those are some of the arrests detailed inside the state’s newly released annual report, which shows 24,161 reports of suspected fraud, down slightly from 24,920 in 2009. It also showed that investigators opened 1,236 new cases for investigation last year.

Officials said investigations led to court-ordered restitution totaling $6.6 million — an increase of more than 29 percent from 2009. There were 449 criminal convictions and 668 arrests, down about 9 percent from 2009.

Among the more noteworthy arrests:

• A Brooklyn woman was charged with insurance fraud after reporting her car stolen. In fact, police had impounded it after she was earlier arrested in connection with shoplifting and a subsequent fist-fighting incident.
• A Brooklyn surgeon was accused of defrauding Medicare and other health care programs of $3.5 million by submitting fraudulent billings. Investigators found that he would have had to work around the clock to earn the billings.
• An Upstate man was arrested after he told police he was robbed, tied up and left inside his burning liquor store. An investigation found that he had intentionally set the fire in an unsuccessful attempt to collect an insurance claim.

Topics Fraud New York