Every day someone in California gets away with insurance fraud, in part because the funding system for the state’s anti-fraud unit hasn’t changed substantially in 34 years.

California Department of Insurance’s Sacramento regional anti-fraud unit, which covers San Joaquin County, said it would have needed 174 extra agents to handle all the cases brought to them last year.

They operate in triage mode, choosing only the most serious crimes.

One out of every four investigator jobs at the Department of Insurance is unfilled; Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner says he’s lacked the revenue to hire them.

A backhoe operator works 14 hours on a repair project for a utility company, but someone in the company office records it as 140 hours.

You own the small business where the repair takes place and are handed the inflated bill. You turn it over to your insurance company, which pays it and that’s the end, right? If the insurance company has to take a hit on that egregious billing error, oh well, that’s its problem.

That is until next year’s insurance premium bill arrives, and it’s so high, it threatens the health of your business. The high cost of that utility repair has been passed down, but you didn’t think you had any recourse after the bill came.

After all, you’re not a utility expert and you don’t know what went into that bill. Neither does your insurance company.

With all of the violence on Milwaukee streets, three mothers who lost their sons in a triple shooting are working to keep guns out of the wrong hands.

The three are rallying behind a gun-control bill to be introduced to the state Assembly Tuesday which also has support from Milwaukee’s most prolific gun dealer.

The mothers have been on a three-year journey, which has been bound by a vicious act of violence. Their sons were shot, execution style, outside Elvin’s Ice House Tavern in 2003 — the victims of one man’s jealousy.

Gus the dog was living a luxe lifestyle: He had his own agent and was training for work as an advertising model.

That is, until the rare, cream-colored dachshund disappeared a few weeks ago. Now the dog’s owners have hired a publicist and a private detective, and they’ve papered several Westchester County towns with posters promising a $2,500 reward.

His owner, Ken Chandler, former publisher of the New York Post, says Gus ran off while they were taking a walk in Teatown Lake Reservation in Yorktown.

The California Bankers Association (CBA) continues its partnership with The Edcomm Group to deliver elder financial abuse training to banks in the state of California.

Last fall, this collaboration resulted in Focus on California Elder Financial Abuse, an eLearning program that was distributed with the help and promotion of CBA to banks throughout California. Included is the use of Learning Link®, Edcomm’s own learning management system, for tracking and certification.

Dr. Linda Eagle, President of the Edcomm Group, said, “We’re thrilled that the CBA continues to use this EFA training program. California banks are dedicated to protecting their customers, especially the elderly who are targeted persistently.”

Language added to a hotly debated immigration resolution at the request of members of the state’s congressional delegation is giving Mayor Kathy Taylor second thoughts about signing off on it, her spokeswoman said Friday.

The resolution initially directed police to check the immigration status of inmates in on felony arrests, but misdemeanor complaints were added Wednesday before the council voted.

Taylor’s office said she and the council reached an agreement in committee on Tuesday that called for only those arrested on felonies to be checked.

A Plainfield police detective was sentenced Friday to a year of probation for filing false police reports as part of an insurance fraud scheme involving a Roselle auto body shop.

Samad Abdel, 42, of Roselle, must leave his job and pay a $5,000 fine, Superior Court Judge James C. Heimlich ruled. Abdel is barred from holding any law enforcement position or public employment.

Washington Association of Licensed Investigators (WALI)

October 19 - 20, 2007
Hilton Garden Inn
1800 NW Gilman Blvd.
Issaquah, WA 98027
425-837-3600

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Acquiring data to work a case or locate a person is critical for a process serving and investigative business. There is a lot of data that can be found in free public records databases but when it comes to getting more sensitive data you may need to turn to an established data broker.

Who are Data Providers and what kind of data do they offer?

Companies like IRBsearch, LocatePlus, Merlin, Tracers Info and many others offer research tools for private investigators, process servers, bail agents and other legal professionals. These tools query billions of records to assist in finding information on people and businesses. Common searches include assets, criminal records, court records, phone number look-ups, driving records and much more.
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Process servers are always looking for ways to increase billing. A very effective way to do this is to provide ancillary services to their existing clients. From time to time, all attorneys need skiptracing services. You can solicit a skiptracing assignment on each bad address and/or offer the service as a stand alone product. An easy way to sell this services is to charge anywhere from $75 - $150 if the subject is located and nothing if the subject is not located. And, in addition to the extra revenue, once you the subject is located you have created another piece of process to serve.

Many servers offer a “field locate” with all service of process. This means that your client automatically authorizes an attempted locate of the subject if it is determined that the given address is a bad address. A field locate provides an incentive to the server to talk to the neighbors while in the field. Typically, the charge is $25-$50 if the subject is found. If the server does not locate the subject in the field, there is still an opportunity to try to find the subject before the client is called for an authorization for a full-priced skiptrace. It is easy to sell a $150 job if you tell your client that you have already checked phone books, called directory assistance and checked with several neighbors and, there will be no charge unless the subject is found.

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• Group for Private Investigators
• Group for Process Servers