Governor Hochul Announces 16 Arrests in State Crackdown on Auto Insurance Fraud
Governor Hochul has made lowering the cost of auto insurance a key part of her affordability agenda by advancing strategies to combat fraud, closing loopholes and strengthening enforcement against individuals and organized groups that exploit the insurance system. In 2025 alone, insurance carriers reported 43,811 incidents of suspected motor vehicle insurance fraud to DFS, an increase of 80% in five years. A majority of those referrals related to suspected no fault fraud.
Earlier this year, Governor Hochul directed DFS, NYSP, the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Division of Criminal Justice Services to take a more proactive and coordinated approach to auto insurance fraud, including dedicating NYSP and DFS resources specifically to insurance fraud investigations and strengthening coordination with prosecutors and law enforcement agencies across the state. The task force combines NYSP investigators with specialists from DFS's Insurance Frauds Bureau to identify suspected fraud, investigate criminal activity and build cases for prosecution.
The Governor also secured major auto insurance reforms in the FY27 Enacted Budget to combat fraud and reduce costs for consumers. Those reforms include provisions allowing prosecutors to seek criminal penalties against individuals who organize staged accidents — not only the individuals behind the wheel — providing law enforcement with another tool to target the organizers of sophisticated fraud schemes.
The reforms also address other factors driving auto insurance costs by limiting certain damages available to individuals engaged in unlawful behavior at the time of an accident, tightening standards governing serious injury claims, limiting recoveries when individuals are primarily responsible for causing an accident and strengthening State oversight of insurance rates and excess insurer profits.
Two cases highlight the ongoing work of the task force:
In Brooklyn, investigators examined a December 2, 2025 crash in which a driver allegedly caused a collision by deliberately cutting in front of another vehicle at an intersection. Investigators say the suspect falsely accused the other driver of running a stop sign and collected more than $16,000 in medical insurance claims.
Video evidence shows the suspect's vehicle turning into the other car, according to investigators. Police arrested the suspect on charges of third-degree insurance fraud, a class D felony, as well as first-degree falsifying business records, second-degree staging a motor vehicle accident and third-degree criminal mischief, all class E felonies. The investigation remains ongoing.
On March 18, 2026, multiple actors staged an accident in the Bronx, NY. Following the accident, the suspects involved received medical treatment from injuries they alleged from the staged accident, which resulted in more than $70,000 worth of fraudulent medical expenses. Both suspects were arrested and charged with Insurance Fraud 2nd degree–C Felony, Attempted Grand Larceny 2nd degree-D Felony and Falsifying Business Records 1st-E Felony.
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