Tavares claimed $5000 for his mustang after the collision and also an extra $1500 for a car that was rental from liberty mutual. After the company paid his bills, they grew suspicious when they analyzed his accident that didn’t happen the way he said it did. Later, the company denied paying for his claims and shifted the case to the insurance fraud bureau of Massachusetts.

The 36 year old of 24 Belmont Street, Lawrence is the recent person who is charged with these bogus claims by the insurance fraud task force.

The detective of Lawrence police, Sergeant Michel Simard said that he must have broken his hand after hitting something or someone. This detective is the lead who was assigned to this criminal unit.

He said that it was always based that he hit something or someone which resulted in breaking his hand.

Tavares ex girlfriend told the task force that on the night when the accident happened, he walked out of the club completely drunk because he saw her dancing with another man and that made him angry.

She told them that the next day she found some damages on the mustang that she hadn’t seen before.

Tavares claimed that when he was driving his mustang on riverside drive, a black Acura emerged from Marble Street; he couldn’t control his steering and then crashed into this car. But before he could get any sort of information, the driver fled. When he told liberty manual the next day, he never said anything about being hurt. He reportedly went to a hospital after eight days with a fracture in his left hand.

After analysis was done on the reconstruction of the accident, it was found that he hit a still car, maybe parked but definitely not moving.

Tavares defended himself saying that he didn’t report the injury as he didn’t know that his hand was broken and he didn’t feel that much pain.

The doctor who examined Tavares’ medical record of his left hand said that he was surprised that Tavares waited for so long as the fracture pains are unbearable.

Tavares was arrested touching the number of frauds to 423 ever since the crackdown by the task force began.

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Each of the 24 defendants are facing charges including one count of auto insurance fraud and one count of false application for registration or certificate of title. Both offenses are punishable by both years of imprisonment and a fine ranging from $10,000 to $15,000. Reports say that the defendants may be facing more charges that are yet to be finalized. Preliminary hearings for the defendants are set anytime from January to February next year. Members of the prosecution team for the scheduled hearings include Attorney General Insurance Fraud Section Deputy Attorney General Jennifer B. Peterson and Senior Deputy Attorney General Mark A. Bellavia.

Insurance expert and Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett identified the fraud committed as a form of rate evasion. Corbett described the practice as a scheme of out-of-state car owners who provide fraudulent documents to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation in order to get information regarding PA vehicle registration records or drivers’ licenses. After getting what they want, out-of-state fraudsters will then use the information to get cheap rates for Pennsylvania car insurance policies to be used for their automobiles. When asked regarding the damages done by scams like this to Pennsylvania’s insurance industry, Corbett said that the genuine residents pay an additional amount, estimated to be ranging from $12 to $15 million each year due to premium rate hikes.

Atty. Gen. Corbett said in an interview that drivers from New Jersey or New York can save approximately $1,000 to $4,000 worth of car insurance costs per year by falsely claiming to be residents of Pennsylvania and insuring their cars in the state. Reports indicate that cases similar to this have been filed before as the auto policy premiums and coverage requirements in Pennsylvania are a lot more affordable as compared to other states. Corbett adds that the real financial victims in these cases are the honest and hardworking citizens of Pennsylvania who carry the burden of paying high premiums when their insurance providers find out that they have been paying for claims filed by fraudulent motorists who are not really residents of the state.

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