A spokesperson for Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich said that the Board had unanimously approved the grants, totaling $17.2 million, to combat automobile insurance and workers’ compensation fraud.
According to the spokesperson, a $5.3 million grant will be given to the District Attorney’s office “to combat fraudulent claims that cost taxpayers millions of dollars annually and have led to thousands of jobs being lost due to local business closures precipitated by escalating workers’ compensation costs caused by fraud.”
The remaining two grants will focus on auto insurance fraud organizations and using the spokeperson's own words the “unscrupulous doctors, chiropractors, lawyers and others who profit from fraudulent automobile insurance claims.”
Attorney Commentary: The funding of these special units explains why there is an increased prosecution in these cases. The reason is that this is not County money but grants for specified funding and the grants require the monies be used for the specified purposes. We can therefore expect to see more investigations and prosecutions involving professionals in the personal injury and workers' compensation fields.
It is not specified but usually these grants are from the Department of Insurance who obtain the funds by assessment on insurance policies. Representatives of the insurance companies are often on the committees who decide which counties receive these grants and whether they will be awarded grants the following year.
In other words, representatives of the victims of these insurance crimes have a say in the prosecution of these cases and are able to fund the prosecutions. It is different than the way almost all other crimes are prosecuted.
Any questions or comments regarding this post or your own situation should be directed to: tgreen@greenassoc.com or 213-233-2260. Tracy Green is a principal at Green and Associates in Los Angeles, California and focuses her practice on the representation of licensed professionals, individuals and businesses in civil, business, administrative and criminal proceedings. She has significant experience in defending individuals, licensed professionals and businesses in insurance fraud investigations. The firm website is: http://www.greenassoc.com/
