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RICHMOND, Va. - Six Virginia "Fraud Fighters" were recognized by the Virginia State Police (VSP) Insurance Fraud Program (IFP) during the Virginia Chapter of the International Association of Special Investigation Units (VAIASIU) Annual Fraud Seminar. The Fraud Fighters Award was established this year by the IFP to recognize those individuals who set the standard for fighting insurance fraud in Virginia.
Nominees for the Fraud Fighters Award came from the Virginia insurance industry, the law enforcement community and from the commonwealths' attorneys. The awards were based on the nominees' contributions to the Virginia insurance industry anti-fraud efforts, which included their involvement and contribution to investigations; their prevention and pro-active activities; enforcement; their interaction with the insurance community; and the financial impact - recoveries/restitution - of their fraud fighting efforts.
The recipients of the first Fraud Fighters Award were Bruce Hiatt, president of Virginia Farm Bureau Federation; Detective Michael Martin in the Washington County Sheriff's Office; D. Wayne Stone, insurance fraud senior special agent with the VSP; Ron Verwers, special agent with Nationwide Insurance; Tom Weidner, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney in Waynesboro; Diana H. Wheeler, Commonwealth's Attorney for the County of Orange; and retired VSP Captain Frank Williams, the first director of the Insurance Fraud Program.
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Bruce Hiatt: Bruce Hiatt is president and CEO of the
Virginia Farm Bureau Federation, a leader in one of
the state's largest industries, agriculture. The Virginia
Farm Bureau Federation is comprised of several different
companies, one of which is an insurance company. In
his role as president and CEO, Hiatt became a leader
in Virginia's insurance industry and an advocate for
the Insurance Fraud Division of the Virginia State Police.
His recent pro-active involvement resulted in increasing
the size of the company's special investigation unit
and placing the unit under his command. Hiatt supports
fraud training for all Virginia Farm Bureau employees
who may have to deal with fraud issues. He's served
on numerous agricultural and economic development boards
as well as on the board for Southern Farm Bureau Life
Insurance. He is a past member of the board of directors
for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Richmond and Blue
Cross and Blue Shield of Virginia.
- Detective
Michael E. Martin, Washington County Sheriff's Office,
Virginia. In 2002, Sheriff's Office received a report
that a statutory burglary, grand larceny and vandalism
occurred at a local ice cream shop. One of the co-owners
alleged that the loss was estimated to be around $25,000.
A claim was filed with the business's insurance company
and payments were made based upon purchase invoices
submitted by the co-owner. Martin and insurance investigators
were dubious about the alleged offense and began to
investigate the matter. As a result of Martin's exhaustive
efforts and reviewing documentation, it was determined
that the co-owner had manufactured and falsified the
purchase invoices of equipment that he claimed was missing.
Some of the missing equipment was being stored at a
different location. The co-owner was confronted with
the information and subsequently arrested. As a result,
the court mandated restitution to the insurance company
in the amount of $23,994.
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Senior Special Agent D. Wayne Stone, Insurance Fraud
Program, Virginia State Police. Since the program began
in 1999, Stone has been committed to the fight against
insurance fraud. From 1999 through 2004, Stone has worked
137 insurance fraud criminal cases. In 2003, Stone had
11 felony arrests, accounting for nearly one-third of
the IFP's total. Even more impressive were Stone's felony
arrest figures for 2004. With 13 arrests, Stone had
exactly 1/2 of the felony arrests reported by the IFP
for that year. In addition to Stone's contributions
to enforcement, he has also been involved in pro-active
and preventative activities for the insurance industry.
In 2003 and 2004, Stone logged 213 hours participating
in crime prevention activities. During this same period,
he continued to enhance his fraud fighting abilities
by taking 240 hours of specialized training. Aside from
Stone's insurance fraud efforts, he has provided the
Commonwealth of Virginia nearly 37 years of law enforcement
expertise and service.
- Special
Investigator Ron Verwers, Nationwide Insurance. Verwers
came to Nationwide 12 years ago after retiring from
the Washington DC Police Department as a detective.
Verwers' focus while on the DC police department and
at Nationwide has been auto theft investigations. He
has taken his expertise to claims associates and special
investigators through anti-theft training programs,
keeping abreast of auto theft trends in the markets
and actively working auto theft cases in northern Virginia.
In 2003, Ron was instrumentally involved in a two-year
investigation along with members of the VSP IFD, the
FBI, Postal Inspector's Office, Arlington County Police,
NICB, the US Attorney's Office and investigators from
other insurance companies. The investigation resulted
in indictment and conviction of fifteen individuals
who victimized insurance companies for more than $1
million dollars in claims payments and $400,000 in pending
claims. Verwers serves as a director of Southeast International
Association of Auto Theft Investigators (IAATI) and
is an active member of the VA IASIU.
- Tom
Weidner, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney, prosecutes
Insurance Fraud cases in the Waynesboro area. One of
these cases was a very complicated case involving Claude
L. Rose as defendant and several insurance carriers.
Weidner put considerable time and effort into the preparation
and prosecution of this case. The prosecution was successful,
the conviction was subsequently appealed and the State
Supreme Court upheld the conviction. Weidner has supplied
training to groups of insurance adjusters and currently
serves on the reward committee for the Insurance Fraud
Program of the VSP.
- Diana
H. Wheeler, Commonwealth's Attorney for the County of
Orange, was presented with three cases of insurance
fraud involving four defendants in November 2004. In
the first case a couple tried to collect insurance money
to replace their old air conditioning unit that was
supposedly destroyed by lightening. In the second case,
the owner of a car that had been totaled by a friend
didn't have insurance at the time of the accident, so
she obtained coverage the following day and filed a
fictitious claim. In the third case, the defendant was
paid twice by two different insurance companies for
the same damage to his car. Wheeler conducted all the
preliminary hearings in General District Court. She
prepared the indictments to be presented to the Grand
Jury; then handled the cases once they were presented
in Circuit Court.
- Captain Frank A. Williams Jr. served as commander of the Virginia State Police Insurance Fraud Division from its inception in 1998 until his retirement in 2004 after more than 41 years with VPS. Under his leadership, the number of special agents working insurance fraud cases increased from 14 agents in 1999 to 19 agents in 2004, and the number of notification received since that first year have more than doubled. In addition, insurance fraud arrests since 1999 totaled more than 590, and over 460 insurance fraud and fraud-related cases have been prosecuted. Williams was responsible for implementing the "Stamp Out Fraud" awareness program, toll-free hotline and www.stampoutfraud.com Web site. The "Sharp Eye" reward program for reporting insurance fraud was launched in 2003. The Virginia Chapter of the International Association of Special Investigation Units awarded its first Covington Award for Distinguished Service to Williams in May 2004.
The Insurance Fraud Program of the Virginia State Police was established January 1, 1999, through legislation approved by the General Assembly. The program's mission is to address the growing crime of insurance fraud in Virginia by conducting thorough professional insurance fraud investigations; by providing insurance fraud training for law enforcement personnel; and by increasing citizen awareness and cooperation through educational and rewards programs.