Police and the
Insurance Bureau of Canada delivered an ‘urgent warning’ to some 100 drivers in the GTA – you are driving without insurance.
A septuagenarian is alleged to have been selling fraudulent insurance in the Greater Toronto Area, and Toronto Police Services suspect it could be as many as 100 people out there driving without proper insurance.
For Rick Dubin, vice president of the IBC, brokers should remind clients that insurance should be purchased through the normal channels – and that an unusually low rate should be questioned.
“If it seems too good to be true, it probably is,” Dubin told reporters at a press conference. “If someone offers you insurance in a doughnut shop… a red flag should go up. We need to raise awareness about fraudulent pink slips.”
Facing two counts of fraud and two counts of uttering a forged document is Alexandr Chertin, age 73.
Chertin is alleged to have sold fake insurance cards to unsuspecting buyers through cash transactions. He had a brief court appearance last week, and has been out on $7,500 bail.
According to police at the press conference, the false insurance was discovered during a routine traffic stop.
Police couldn’t comment on the specifics of the crime, stating that the investigation was ongoing. They did say that the fraudulent insurance slips have been sold going back to 2013. (continued.)
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The most recent case of insurance fraud hit close to home for law enforcement, when a York Regional Police officer was charged by her own force after company insurance benefits were allegedly misused.
In that case, Constable Salwa Husseini was suspended with pay and charged with two counts of uttering false documents, and two counts of fraud under $5,000.
The charges stem from an investigation that was launched by the force’s Police Professional Standards Bureau back in July in response to complaints from the benefits provider.
Husseini is to appear in Newmarket court on Nov. 27.
