Expert Witness Blog
Auto insurance expert witnesses will be testifying in New Mexico cases that cover multiple insurance fraud schemes. The NM Senate passed a bill that would increase insurance fraud penalties by empowering courts to combine the insurance money stolen by multiple schemes into one larger dollar amount and longer sentences. ClaimsJournal.com reports:
State Sen. Carroll Leavell sponsored SB 117, which passed Feb. 17, 2009. A staged-accident ring, for example, might bilk several auto insurers out of hundreds of thousands of dollars with dozens or more fake injury claims. Combining these claims into one larger dollar sum for sentencing purposes can greatly magnify the final penalty, according to the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. Several states permit courts to aggregate stolen insurance money when sentencing swindlers. Some laws fall under the state’s insurance codes, and others under their general criminal code.