Toronto police arrest 37 people and lay 130 charges following insurance fraud ring investigation

Toronto Police have arrested 37 people and laid 130 charges in connection with Project Whiplash, an investigation into an alleged insurance fraud ring that resulted in insurance payouts totaling $4 million.

Police say the ring featured staged auto collisions, false claims at several rehab providers across the Greater Toronto Area and the false use of several medical practitioners’ identities. The alleged scam targeted numerous insurers, police say.

The allegations have not been proven in court.

Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) collected and collated information from member insurers in support of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO)’s role in the investigation.

Project Whiplash was first established in 2009. At that time, the project identified 10 key people and 35 others who allegedly played a role in a series of fraudulently staged collisions and insurance claims.

Police say the investigation found a number of billing inaccuracies made to insurers from various physiotherapy clinics in Toronto. Eight local physiotherapy clinics were owned and operated by the accused.

Billing forms included names and registration numbers, fraudulently obtained, of several medical professionals who were not employed by the clinics and who had resigned from the clinics, police say. Or if they were employed by the clinics, they did not provide treatment to the named patients.

Police also allege that numerous staged motor vehicle collisions were executed. Some cases submitted to insurers did not actually happen. In some cases, the police said in a press release, previously damaged vehicles were made to appear as if they had been involved in a new collision.

Police say they would start an investigation, generate reports and then the parties involved would later claim to be injured, seeking the assistance of identified paralegals who would file all the required paperwork with the insurance company.

In some instances, police allege, the accused permitted their names to be used on the collision form and used by the clinics and paralegals when they were not involved in any collision, staged or fabricated.