Attorney General Michael A. Delaney and Insurance Commissioner Roger A. Sevigny announce today that Tammiann Searle of Kittery, Maine pleaded guilty in the Hillsborough County, Northern District Superior Court, to a Class B felony Insurance Fraud. As part of the terms of the plea, Ms. Searle received a sentence of 1 ½ to 3 years at the New Hampshire State Prison, and was fined $4,000. All of the prison sentence and $3,000 of the fine were suspended for two years upon good behavior. Ms. Searle was also required to make restitution of $24,139.00 to Liberty Mutual Insurance Corporation.

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The charge stemmed from a suspicious claim which was investigated by the New Hampshire Insurance Department Fraud Unit. On June 3, 2009, Ms. Searle reported that the contents of her apartment were damaged beyond repair after water from firefighting efforts in the apartment upstairs, leaked down through the ceiling and walls. In order to receive the proceeds of her renter’s policy with Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, Ms. Searle signed a false proof of loss form and concealed property from inspection by Liberty Mutual adjusters by claiming that it had been taken to the dump because it was destroyed by water damage. Ms. Searle was paid by Liberty Mutual to replace all the items she claimed were destroyed.

Through its investigation, the Fraud Unit located many items which Ms. Searle claimed were destroyed. Some items were found in the possession of Ms. Searle’s friends. These included high end bedroom, living room and dining room furniture sets, a 37” flat screen TV as well as other furnishings. The items were all in good condition and were either being stored or in use. All of the items recovered could be restored with little or no refurbishing.

The prosecution was the result of collaboration between the Attorney General’s Office and the NH Insurance Department Fraud Unit. The Fraud Unit was formed under RSA 417 to investigate and prosecute Insurance Fraud and other insurance-related criminal activity with the assistance of the NH Department of Justice.

TAMPA – Con artists are staging crashes, faking injuries and bilking the system — and it’s jacking up all of our insurance rates.

“For a newer car, they’re pretty high,” said Rachelle Davenport. “It’s almost impossible to make my payments sometimes.”

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“It’s something that happens everywhere, and unfortunately the good are suffering because of the bad!” said Sharhonda Williams.

Lawmakers are trying to stop it from happening. They just can’t agree on how to do it.

“Let’s not deny the people’s right and ability to have access to medical services and the courts. Let’s go after the unscrupulous characters and put them out of business,” said State Senator Mike Fasano (R-New Port Richey).

Both the House and Senate have passed reform bills, overhauling Florida’s personal injury protection, or PIP law.

But there are big differences, like the time limit to file claims. Lawmakers do agree on one thing, that under any new law, massage therapists and acupuncture should not be eligible for medical reimbursements.

“I think we’ll have some room to go. But I think we can get there,” State Representative Jim Boyd (R-Bradenton) says.

Undercover detectives in Hillsborough County say the fraud rings are rampant.

“I think anything that they do is going to curtail it. It can’t hurt,” said the undercover detective in charge of PIP fraud investigations for the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

Tampa was the worst in the state until six months ago, when the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office launched a massive crackdown.

“What people don’t understand is all the crime these organizations bring into Hillsborough County. You’ve got human trafficking, drugs, kidnappings,” the detective said.

But without money to enforce a new law, consumer advocates say it won’t do much good.

“Even if you reduce the PIP benefit so that the criminals start doing something else, they’re still out there doing crimes, right? That doesn’t help anything! So we need more fraud prosecutors and more law enforcement that is dedicated to fighting PIP fraud. That’s what works,” said Bill Newton, with the Consumer Action Network.