York Regional Police lay 142 charges in alleged auto fraud scheme called “Project Sideswipe”

Forty-six suspects have been charged in connection with an alleged auto fraud scheme called Project Sideswipe involving staged collisions and suspected false medical billings in Ontario.

One hundred and forty-two charges have been laid to date, including conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, fraud under $5,000, fraud over $5,000 and obstruction of a police officer, notes a statement from the York Regional Police (YRP).

Project Sideswipe involved nine alleged staged collisions that occurred in York Region, as well as suspected associated false medical billings from several medical rehab and assessment centres in Brampton, Toronto and Mississauga, notes a statement from the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC). The allegations have not been proven in court.

Police believe a ring of recruited drivers and passengers staged collisions to support accident benefit insurance claims. Medical rehab and assessment centres would then use the names, signatures and college registration numbers of medical practitioners, without their proper authorization, and invoice insurance companies for services that were not rendered, the IBC reports.  

Rick Dubin, vice president of investigation services for the IBC, characterized the efforts as yet, “another step at driving a wedge into one of the alleged sophisticated fraud networks, operating throughout the Greater Toronto Area.”

“The potential loss to nine insurers is still being calculated, but it is estimated to be somewhere in the neighbourhood of $5 million,” Dubin notes in the statement.

“Insurance premiums are driven by claims costs and right now costs have been driven through the roof in Ontario as a result of fraud and abuse in the system.” Results from a KPMG study estimate the annual cost of auto insurance fraud in Ontario to be in the range of between $770 million and $1.6 billion per year.