The decision to jail and order $1.3 million in restitution for the ringleader of a staged-collision ring is being applauded by the insurance industry.
An Ontario Judge has handed down a strong sentence to a “directing mind of several clinics” involved in a staged collision ring. Project Whiplash, a Toronto Police Services fraud investigation, supported by
Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC), member insurance companies and Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO), has cost the Ontario public more than $4 million in fraudulent claims.
“We applaud this appropriate sentence,” said Rick Dubin, vice-president, investigative services for the IBC. “It is significant and will hopefully act as a strong deterrent for others considering this type of illegal conduct. It makes it clear that the courts are taking these crimes more seriously by imposing harsher penalties and restitution.”
The ring submitted auto insurance claims that they purported to have been signed or authorized by several Ontario registered health practitioners, including five chiropractors, a massage therapist and a kinesiologist, when in fact they had not been. The fraudsters also staged several auto collisions, made accident reports to police and filed false injury claims, which resulted in payments for medical treatments that were never provided and income replacement benefits based on false employment submissions.
Vishnukanthan Sabapathy of Markham, Ont., pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud over $5,000 for his involvement in false billings from health clinics and for making false insurance claims. He was sentenced to two years less a day in jail and ordered to pay $1.3 million in restitution for his role in the scam (he paid $500,000 up front and was ordered to pay $800,000 more).
“Insurance crime is big business that siphons dollars away from our health care system, ties up emergency services and our courts and drives up insurance premiums,” said Dubin. “Ontario auto insurance fraud adds $200 to $300 to everyone’s premium. When they cheat, we all pay.”
