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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
10/4/2017
FOR INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Craig Ey, 410-468-2488 (O)
443-604-9599 (C)

Maryland Insurance Administration Continues to Focus on Stopping Insurance Fraud

Criminal and civil orders result in over $400,000 in fines and penalties year to date

BALTIMORE – The Maryland Insurance Administration continues to investigate and prosecute individuals and businesses for committing insurance fraud.  Insurance fraud, one of the most costly crimes in the country, costs Maryland consumers money, in the form of higher premiums.
 
During the first eight months of 2017, the investigative work of the Insurance Fraud Division of the Maryland Insurance Administration led to 26 people being criminally prosecuted for committing insurance fraud while civil fraud orders were issued in another 21 cases.  Enforcement efforts resulted in a combined total of $70,115 in fines and penalties as well as $347,284 in restitution to insurance carriers impacted by the fraudulent activity.
   
 “We are very serious about investigating tips that we receive about insurance fraud,” said Insurance Commissioner Al Redmer, Jr. “We want Marylanders to know they should call us if they suspect insurance fraud is being committed. All tips are confidential and we thoroughly investigate each and every report.”

Specifics on Civil Fraud in Maryland

In October 2012, the MIA was granted authority to issue insurance fraud civil orders. Since 2013, the MIA has sanctioned 154 individuals with committing insurance fraud in Maryland. Penalties totaling more than $637,399 have been issued and those individuals were also ordered to pay over $212,976 in restitution.

Specifics on Criminal Fraud in Maryland

Since 2011, the Insurance Administration has investigated 374 fraud cases which were prosecuted through the offices of local State’s Attorneys and the Attorney General. Many of those cases resulted in criminal convictions, jail time, and fines totaling $25,130. The Courts also ordered the defendants to pay more than $1,886,139 in restitution to the insurance carriers and individuals impacted by the fraudulent activity.  For the first eight months of 2017, 26 cases were adjudicated resulting in a total of fines and restitution of $348,799.
 
The Insurance Administration is an independent State agency charged with enforcing insurance laws and regulations. Its Fraud Division, staffed by former law enforcement officers and prosecutors, investigates reports of fraudulent activity related to insurance matters. If you suspect that someone has committed insurance fraud, call the MIA’s Fraud Division hotline at 1-800-846-4069, or email a referral form to fraud-referrals.mia@maryland.gov. To learn more, please visit http://insurance.maryland.gov/Consumer/Pages/InsuranceFraudConsumer.aspx. The MIA publishes details of the fraud orders on its website; to view civil fraud and criminal fraud information look under Public Documents (http://insurance.maryland.gov/Pages/available-public-information/index.aspx).

To learn more about insurance fraud across the United States, visit the National Insurance Crime Bureau website: nicb.org. The National Insurance Crime Bureau is the organization dedicated to fighting insurance fraud and crime. The NICB partners with insurance companies, law enforcement agencies and regulators to identify, detect and prosecute insurance criminals. Watch the latest NICB video here.
 
About the Maryland Insurance Administration

The Maryland Insurance Administration is an independent State agency charged with regulating Maryland’s $28.5 billion insurance industry. For more information about the Insurance Administration, please visit www.insurance.maryland.gov or follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MDInsuranceAdmin or Twitter at @MD_Insurance.

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