44 Arrested in Statewide Auto Insurance Scam

Forty-four alleged members of an elaborate statewide auto insurance fraud ring were arrested Tuesday, culminating a five-year investigation that authorities said involved lawyers, chiropractors, stagers and fake claimants.

Most were arrested in Los Angeles and San Diego counties by a multi-agency task force including the California Department of Insurance, the FBI and the L.A. County district attorney’s office. All have been indicted on charges including conspiracy, insurance fraud, filing false insurance claims and grand theft, authorities said. The indictments centered on 10 fraudulent claims amounting to $230,000, although authorities said they believe the ring may have bilked millions of dollars from insurance companies since 1994.

At least one defendant has been arraigned in Los Angeles Superior Court, with other arraignments expected later this week.

“We think the defendants arrested today are but the outer layer of an apple we intend to peel down to its core,” said Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti, during a Los Angeles news conference that began with his expression of condolences to the families of victims in Tuesday’s community center shooting.

Laid out on two tables in front of Garcetti were 500 cassette tapes that he said hold evidence collected during the insurance fraud investigation.

He said the probe, dubbed “Operation T-Bone” and “Twisted Metal,” is continuing. Authorities suspect more are involved in the ring, which utilized several lawyers, chiropractors and physical therapists. All of the attorneys indicted were based in Los Angeles County, which allowed the district attorney’s office to file charges here, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Anthony Colannino. Authorities were tipped off to the ring, which they said operated from San Diego to San Mateo counties, after an insurance company noticed that it had been receiving a large influx of auto accident claims from people with eastern European surnames, Colannino said. When some suspicious claims were questioned, the claimants quickly dropped them, which prompted the company to notify authorities.

The Department of Insurance and FBI agents launched an investigation that centered on an undercover agent using the name “Tony Miramontes,” who infiltrated the ring, with mostly ethnic Russian participants, for three years.

After gaining the trust of alleged ringleader Igor Snarsky of San Diego, Miramontes was recruited to find automobiles and drivers over the age of 25 with valid licenses and good driving records. A driver would crash a car into another car and the “not at fault” driver would claim the staged collision as an accident to his or her insurance company. Personal injuries to passengers in the car were also claimed.

Snarsky is also accused of asking the undercover agent to beat up and castrate another member of the ring who he claimed owed him $4,000, as well as to rape and kidnap the member’s wife, according to Colannino. In addition to fraud charges, Snarsky is charged with attempted conspiracy to commit aggravated mayhem, torture and rape.