OREANDA-NEWS. May 6, 2010. Thanks to the prompt work of the operating subdivisions of Ingosstrakh OJSC, in 2009, 1,048 attempts of insurance fraud were prevented: 334 attempts more than last year. Illegal indemnity payments for a total amount of 494.7 mln rubles were prevented.

According to Ingosstrakh’s statistics, the most characteristic fraud schemes in retail insurance are simulated theft or arson of vehicles, fraudulent substitution of the driver in the traffic accident case materials, ‘staged’ traffic accidents, attempt of imputing to traffic accident damage caused earlier in other circumstances. Last year a new form of fraud was identified: forgery of documents for direct debiting of cash under false enforcement orders.

Currently, in several constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the competent authorities are investigating criminal cases initiated by Ingosstrakh. The Company’s Information Analysis and Protection Department performs communication functions by consulting the employees of investigating authorities to ensure a more complete and objective qualification of the identified crimes, determination of the level of social danger of the people involved. In 2009, on the basis of Ingosstrakh’s requests over 30 criminal cases were initiated on fraud, 16 more than last year.

In Khabarovsk a sentence was awarded in a criminal case initiated in 2006 against several people who recorded and paid a false loss in the amount of 108,345 rubles. In Samara a judgment was awarded against a group of people accused of a major fraud attempt. The minimum term of imprisonment for the criminals was 5 years.

The Leninsky district court of Krasnodar awarded a judgment of conviction against 25 members of an organized criminal group, including 9 policemen, who made documents on nonexistent traffic accidents. The Dorogomilovsky court of Moscow awarded a judgment against V.S. Fomenko and Yu.M. Kunakov, who pretending to be Ingosstrakh’s employees sold counterfeit insurance policies to three insured persons. These people were condemned under Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation to imprisonment for 2.5 and 3 years respectively. Later the criminal case was reopened in connection with the identification of 12 new crimes committed by the people involved. The investigation was concluded and the case was submitted again to court.

The Nikulinsky district court of Moscow awarded a judgment against the members of a criminal group who deceived several insurance companies, including Ingosstrakh. They were all found guilty and condemned to 6 to 8 years of imprisonment.

Ingosstrakh continuously works to fight fraud. An electronic system capable of analyzing risks and evaluating the level of fraud probability in every individual case has been implemented in the company. Such cases are then specially processed to identify swindlers, thus not distributing extra costs among good and loyal clients. Moreover, Ingosstrakh regularly implements preventive measures and performs audits in the headquarters and in the regional subdivisions to prevent and avoid insurance fraud and protect interests of its clients and partners.