A judge in the province of Ontario has ordered a man to pay $1.3 million in restitution and spend two years less a day in jail. Vishnukanthan Sabapathy of Markham, Ontario was charged in connection with what is known as “staged collisions”
Rick Dubin is the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) Vice-President, Investigative Service and was involved in the investigation leading to the conviction
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Rick Dubin says the Greater Toronto area, (GTA) is the staged collision capital of the country. It is also the most populous area of the country and stretches roughly 40 kilometers out to the east north and west from the city of Toronto in southern Ontario.
A staged collision is when someone deliberately causes a vehicle crash, the purpose of which is to defraud insurance companies.
This fraud occurs in a variety of ways, from artificially high vehicle repair costs, to phoney health and care benefits for the “victims”
The concept of staged collisions is world wide, and costs insurance companies astronomical sums. They say these costs are passed on to all consumers in the form of higher insurance premiums.
In this case the judge called Sabapathy a “directing mind” of several health clinics as part of an organized group that submitted auto insurance claims purported to have been signed or authorized by several Ontario registered health practitioners, when in fact they had not been.
This came about following several staged auto collisions, involving false injury claims, which resulted in payments for medical treatments that were never provided and income replacement benefits based on false employment submissions. Other costs falsely claimed from insurance companies include things like housekeeping, charges for fraudulent assessment and treatment plans, caregiver benefits and so on.
Rick Dubin says to watch out for staging if someone suddenly cuts in front of you, or the vehicle in front of you, that they might suddenly brake. Another tactic is to stop and wave you into traffic in what might at first seem like a friendly gesture, but then they, or a second fraudster will drive into you. A left turn fraud is similar, where someone will stop at an intersection or entrance way to a store or mall, and wave you to turn in front of them, as you do so they, or a second car on the inside lane will hit you, again making it look like your fault. Also watch for several people in a car, who after a minor accident all pretend they have injuries, whiplash etc. He notes that if you suspect you’ve been a victim of a staged crash, insist the police come, and call your insurance company and explain you think it was staged.
He applauded this recent court decision saying it shows the courts are taking these crimes more seriously.
The judge called Sabapathy a “directing mind” of several clinics in a ring that submitted auto insurance claims purported to have been signed or authorized by several Ontario registered health practitioners, when in fact they had not been.
In 2012, an analyst firm KPMG estimated that automobile fraud in the province of Ontario alone costs insurers as much as $1.6 billion a year, a sum which other drivers end up paying through higher premiums.
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