Theater on wheels: car insurers complain about fraudulent drivers
In Tatarstan, the investigation of a criminal case on fraud with insurance payments by staging an accident has been completed. The main defendant is the former head of the traffic police department of the Bavli district. Meanwhile, CTP payment scams are becoming more common in different regions of the country. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
Paper accidents
The Investigative Department of the TFR in the Republic of Tatarstan has completed an investigation into the former head of the Traffic police Department in the Bavlin district and his acquaintance.
— Depending on the role of each of the accused in the commission of crimes provided for in Part 3 of art. 30, Part 3 of art. 159.5 of the Criminal Code (attempted insurance fraud), Part 1 of art. 222 of the Criminal Code (illegal acquisition, storage and carrying of ammunition), Part 5 of art. 33, Part 3 of art. 30, Part 3 of Article 159.5 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (complicity in attempted insurance fraud), part 1 of Article 285 of the Criminal Code (abuse of official authority), part 2 of Article 292 of the Criminal Code (official forgery), — stated in a message on the official portal of the department.
An acquaintance of the officer bought a passenger car in Salekhard, in which he overturned into a ditch during the transfer to his homeland. After the accident, he insured the car, providing fictitious information about its serviceable condition. Then he faked the accident, and a traffic cop friend helped arrange it. The car owner went to court with the documents and managed to recover 4.5 million rubles from the insurance company.
Opinion of the insurer
"This is a fairly simple deception scheme," a source from a large Russian insurance company told Izvestia. — In modern conditions, such scams are impossible without the participation of either corrupt insurance company employees or corrupt traffic police officers. In our practice, there was a case recently when an expensive car with traces of a tangential side impact arrived for insurance examination (insured under a hard hat). At the same time, the owner intended to change the headlights, citing the fact that they were cracked by impact. The check showed that the faulty headlights were taken from another car of the same brand. Later it turned out that an insurance agent working in one of the branches of the IC received 50 thousand rubles as a reward for fraud.
According to the Izvestia source, despite increased control over employees by insurance companies, the most popular deception mechanisms remain overstatement of damage and forgery of documents.
— This case vividly illustrates the problem of insurance fraud, which causes significant damage not only to insurance companies, but also to the economy as a whole, — says lawyer Ekaterina Krasnova. — Such actions lead to an increase in the cost of insurance products for bona fide customers and undermine confidence in the insurance system.
In May, the All-Russian Union of Insurers reported that the share of CTP fraud is 88% of all cases of fraud with insurance payments. According to data for 2024, fraudsters received at least 3 billion rubles from insurance companies.
Unhealthy collectivism
Fraudulent CTP schemes are characterized by the commission of crimes as part of groups. For example, at the end of June, investigators sent a criminal case to the court against 10 residents of the Altai Territory involved in 11 episodes of deception of insurance companies.
"During the investigation, it was established that in the period from 2023 to 2024, in the territory of the regional capital, the attackers implemented a fraudulent scheme related to the staging of road accidents. Using both self-owned and specially purchased cars, the defendants initiated traffic accidents in Barnaul, after which they provided accident documents to insurance companies and received cash payments based on them," the regional department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia said in a statement.
The fraudsters used domestic cars specially prepared by craftsmen in a special garage box for staging. According to preliminary estimates of the investigation, the material damage from the activities of the criminal brigade amounted to over 2.3 million rubles.
A group of fraudsters from Moscow caused much more damage to insurers. In May of this year, detectives from the Department of Internal Affairs of the Southern Administrative District detained eight people involved in fraud with CTP and CASCO. The team purchased several used foreign cars to stage accidents.
— From 2021 to 2025, the attackers committed more than 500 intentional accidents. The income from illegal activities amounted to over 100 million rubles," said Irina Volk, an official representative of the Russian Interior Ministry.
More than 100 fake accidents are on the conscience of a group from Krasnoyarsk that defrauded insurance companies of over 20 million rubles from 2019 to 2022. Detectives got on their trail at the instigation of insurers last year.
In the Orel region, 22 people were under investigation for staging an accident for the sake of payments at once.
— In the period from October 2018 to February 2022, the defendants, under the leadership of the organizer of the group, staged 81 traffic accidents in the territory of the Orel region. Previously, the parts on the cars were replaced with damaged ones, or the windows were intentionally broken, the discs bent, and so on," the regional department of the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
Then the attackers produced and provided the insurers with fictitious documents about the occurrence of insurance claims.
— This criminal business
In Tatarstan, the investigation of a criminal case on fraud with insurance payments by staging an accident has been completed. The main defendant is the former head of the traffic police department of the Bavli district. Meanwhile, CTP payment scams are becoming more common in different regions of the country. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
Paper accidents
The Investigative Department of the TFR in the Republic of Tatarstan has completed an investigation into the former head of the Traffic police Department in the Bavlin district and his acquaintance.
— Depending on the role of each of the accused in the commission of crimes provided for in Part 3 of art. 30, Part 3 of art. 159.5 of the Criminal Code (attempted insurance fraud), Part 1 of art. 222 of the Criminal Code (illegal acquisition, storage and carrying of ammunition), Part 5 of art. 33, Part 3 of art. 30, Part 3 of Article 159.5 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (complicity in attempted insurance fraud), part 1 of Article 285 of the Criminal Code (abuse of official authority), part 2 of Article 292 of the Criminal Code (official forgery), — stated in a message on the official portal of the department.
An acquaintance of the officer bought a passenger car in Salekhard, in which he overturned into a ditch during the transfer to his homeland. After the accident, he insured the car, providing fictitious information about its serviceable condition. Then he faked the accident, and a traffic cop friend helped arrange it. The car owner went to court with the documents and managed to recover 4.5 million rubles from the insurance company.
Opinion of the insurer
"This is a fairly simple deception scheme," a source from a large Russian insurance company told Izvestia. — In modern conditions, such scams are impossible without the participation of either corrupt insurance company employees or corrupt traffic police officers. In our practice, there was a case recently when an expensive car with traces of a tangential side impact arrived for insurance examination (insured under a hard hat). At the same time, the owner intended to change the front lights, citing the fact that they were cracked by impact. The check showed that the faulty headlights were taken from another car of the same brand. Later it turned out that an insurance agent working in one of the branches of the IC received 50 thousand rubles as a reward for fraud. rubles'.
According to the Izvestia source, despite increased control over employees by insurance companies, the most popular deception mechanisms remain overstatement of damage and forgery of documents.
— This case vividly illustrates the problem of insurance fraud, which causes significant damage not only to insurance companies, but also to the economy as a whole, — says lawyer Ekaterina Krasnova. — Such actions lead to an increase in the cost of insurance products for bona fide customers and undermine confidence in the insurance system.
In May, the All-Russian Union of Insurers reported that the share of CTP fraud is 88% of all cases of fraud with insurance payments. According to data for 2024, fraudsters received at least 3 billion rubles from insurance companies.
Unhealthy collectivism
Fraudulent CTP schemes are characterized by the commission of crimes as part of groups. For example, at the end of June, investigators sent a criminal case to the court against 10 residents of the Altai Territory involved in 11 episodes of deception of insurance companies.
"During the investigation, it was established that in the period from 2023 to 2024, in the territory of the regional capital, the attackers implemented a fraudulent scheme related to the staging of road accidents. Using both self-owned and specially purchased cars, the defendants initiated traffic accidents in Barnaul, after which they provided accident documents to insurance companies and received cash payments based on them," the regional department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia said in a statement.
The fraudsters used domestic cars specially prepared by craftsmen in a special garage box for staging. According to preliminary estimates of the investigation, the material damage from the activities of the criminal brigade amounted to over 2.3 million rubles.
A group of fraudsters from Moscow caused much more damage to insurers. In May of this year, detectives from the Department of Internal Affairs of the Southern Administrative District detained eight people involved in fraud with CTP and CASCO. The team purchased several used foreign cars to stage accidents.
— From 2021 to 2025, the attackers committed more than 500 intentional accidents. The income from illegal activities amounted to over 100 million rubles," said Irina Volk, an official representative of the Russian Interior Ministry.
More than 100 fake accidents are on the conscience of a group from Krasnoyarsk that defrauded insurance companies of over 20 million rubles from 2019 to 2022. Detectives got on their trail at the instigation of insurers last year.
In the Orel region, 22 people were under investigation for staging an accident for the sake of payments at once.
— In the period from October 2018 to February 2022, the accused, under the leadership of the organizer of the group, staged 81 traffic accidents in the territory of the Orel region. Previously, the parts on the cars were replaced with damaged ones, or the windows were intentionally broken, the discs bent, and so on," the regional department of the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
Then the attackers produced and provided the insurers with fictitious documents about the occurrence of insurance claims.
"This criminal business is quite risky, given that many people are involved in the schemes," a law enforcement source explained. — They often get caught. As a rule, we are dealing with those who have previously been convicted and have served their sentences in places of deprivation of liberty. Recently, there have been foreign citizens who come to Russia on a shift basis for this kind of "part-time work."
c is quite risky, considering that many people are involved in the schemes," a law enforcement source explained. — They often get caught. As a rule, we are dealing with those who have previously been convicted and have served their sentences in places of deprivation of liberty. Recently, there have been foreign citizens who come to Russia on a shift basis for this kind of "part-time work."
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
