Also from the draft-post archives, this time 2003: was it just too grotesque? Detective Ken Bigg “said that in an attempt to ward off suspicion from insurance companies, the [Chicago-area] crew would alternate between breaking arms and legs” of the victims they would then insert into staged crash scenes. “Bigg said police only learned of the scam when authorities at various homeless shelters began calling to report unusual numbers of residents showing up with broken arms or legs,” and that “the homeless ‘victims,’ who were often recruited from shelters, rarely saw much of [the] money, receiving ‘anything from nothing to $1,500’ on settlements that ranged from $10,000 to $100,000 apiece.” [AP/Northwest Indiana Times; one defendant reportedly nicknamed “Bonecrusher”; more on claims fraud]
Comments are closed.