A warrant for Assoulin’s arrest was issued in October 2005, following the results of an investigation by the CDI. The investigation revealed multiple fraudulent automobile insurance claims were allegedly submitted to car rental and insurance companies by Assoulin and co-conspirators. Nine defendants have pleaded guilty to various insurance fraud related charges in connection with this case. In May 2005, Assoulin was awaiting sentencing for federal charges when he became aware of CDI’s insurance fraud investigation. At that point, Assoulin fled to Israel.

Bradley Vernatter pleaded guilty in February to one felony count of conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, Cline’s office said. Vernatter admitted to his role in committing staged auto accidents and was sentenced Wednesday to one year in a regional jail and ordered to pay State Farm Insurance Co. $2,000 in restitution, Cline’s office said.

The ABI has worked with the Information Commissioner’s Office and the private investigator (PI) industry to publish guidelines on the use of PIs by insurers when investigating potentially fraudulent claims.

The guidance covers when an insurer should consider using a PI, the importance of a formal agreement between the insurer and investigator and the information that the insurer needs from the PI to come to a conclusion.

It also explains who has the right to see the information collected by the PI and how long it should be kept by the insurer.

Stephen Haddrill, director general for the ABI, said: ‘People rightly want to protect their privacy. Insurers need to balance this with the need to expose cheating policyholders.

‘On occasions an insurer may need to use a private investigator if they suspect a claim is fraudulent. And insurers may sometimes use tracing agents to find people who are due payouts from old policies.’

Dr. Farouk Al-Salihi, of Jersey City, admitted making the fraudulent claims in January and February 2006. The patient whose papers Al-Salihi forged turned out to be an undercover investigator from the New Jersey Office of Insurance Fraud.

Al-Salihi will appear before Hudson County Judge Vazquez on June 15 for sentencing. He faces up to 18 months in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Michael Kellogg also ordered Jacinto Antonio Barrientos to pay $45,199 in restitution to Unitrin Insurance Co., where the San Fernando Valley man, 35, committed the crimes over a 13-month period beginning in June 2005, prosecutor Loren Naiman said.

“Today’s arrests have dealt a death blow to these elaborately organized schemes. By working together, we’ve crippled their ability to continue their concerted rip-off of the system,” says California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner.

The arrests were made in Kern, Kings, Tulare, Fresno and Merced counties.

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.

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.

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.

According to the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, the new law (HB 1409) also would limit access by outsiders to police accident reports, thus making it harder to recruit real crash victims into insurance schemes involving fake injury claims.

The law takes effect October 1, and was sponsored by Del. Dereck E. Davis (D-District 25-Prince George’s County).