In a previous column, I wrote about fake and fraudulent claims that people make against insurance carriers; those that we usually uncover during an investigation. A red flag usually pops up sometime during the adjuster’s examination and then we get the call. In this case, where the claim amount is in the millions of dollars, we’re likely to get that same call.
Working undercover is my favorite part of the job; it can bear much fruit. When you need information about someone, there’s no better source than that person himself. The trick is to get that person to trust you enough to share the information that is vital to your case.
S. Brian Mathews of LA Intelligence was recently interviewed on Between Takes where he provides some very interesting and informative information regarding private investigation services. Brian recounts some of his most interesting cases and discusses the extreme amount of fraud that is taken place in our society.
At some point my client and his wife realized that the money given to the decorator was not being used for its intended purpose — furniture, accessories, etc. They attempted to contact the decorator but to no avail, so he sued him and won a money judgment for more than $550,000 by default. Clearly, he had no defense — so why show up!
A fellow P.I. recently referred an interesting client to me. This new client had a judgment in favor of a previously well-respected designer decorator for more than a half million dollars. The client knew there was little chance of collecting, not only because the decorator didn’t have the client’s money anymore, but because the laws that govern “post judgment recovery” are complicated and expensive.
Most private investigators, at one time or another, have investigated fraudulent workers compensation claims and in fact, many train on that type of work, as these claims always seem to be in good supply. Much of my earlier experience involved insurance claims and my biggest client in my early days was a large insurance defense firm.