California Department of Insurance makes announcement.RIVERSIDE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 20, 1996--In October 1995, investigators from the R.A.I.D. Task force (Riverside Auto-theft Interdiction INTERDICTION, civil law. A legal restraint upon a person incapable of managing his estate, because of mental incapacity, from signing any deed or doing any act to his own prejudice, without the consent of his curator or interdictor. 2. Detail) received information that a widespread network of outlaw bikers and their associates were working together to defraud insurance companies. The suspects acquired expensive Harley Davidson motorcycles either by theft, or conspiring with the legal owners to stage a theft in order to collect insurance money. The seven-month investigation culminated on May 13 with the return of a 125-count indictment against 35 individuals. The counts include conspiracy, auto theft, operating a chop shop, VIN VIN Vulvar intraepithelial neoplasm, see there switching, insurance fraud, assault, sales and transportation of Methamphetamine, kidnaping and torture. At about 7:00 this morning, over 400 law enforcement personnel representing 21 separate agencies served 35 arrest warrants and about 50 search warrants. The warrants were served at 41 locations throughout Riverside, San Bernardino San Bernardino, city, United States San Bernardino (săn bûr'nədē`nō), city (1990 pop. 164,164), seat of San Bernardino co., S Calif., at the foot of the San Bernardino Mts.; inc. 1854. , San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. and Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Counties. There was no report of injury to citizen or officer. Over 30 arrests were actually made. National presidents, officers and local chapter presidents of four prominent outlaw motorcycle gangs are among those arrested. The R.A.I.D. Task force is a multi-agency task force dedicated solely to decreasing vehicle theft in Riverside County. The 10 members were hand picked from the Riverside County Sheriff's Department The Riverside County Sheriff's Department serves the unincorporated areas of Riverside County, California; as well as several incorporated contract cities. History Unincorporated Areas Served
n. A state law enforcement organization whose police officers patrol the public highways. . The task force is supervised by Lt. Jeff Talbott of the California Highway Patrol and Sgt. Mark Reilly of the Sheriff's Office and operates out of the Sheriff's facility in Riverside and the Palm Springs Police Department. Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush of the California Department of Insurance The California Department of Insurance (CDI), established in 1868, is the angency charged with overseeing the regulation of insurance regulations, enforcing statutes mandating consumer protections, educating consumers, and fostering the stability of insurance markets in the state said: "We have seen insurance fraud scams like this before, but never of this scale. This case clearly illustrates what we have known for years: Insurance fraud is a stepping stone to other crime. Too often, fraud is seen as `clean,' a white collar crime white collar crime n. a generic term for crimes involving commercial fraud, cheating consumers, swindles, insider trading on the stock market, embezzlement and other forms of dishonest business schemes. committed only by doctors, lawyers and other professionals. It's much more than that! Insurance fraud is a serious crime, committed by serious criminals." Nearly 80 Department of Insurance Investigators were involved in today's sweep and helped investigate these fraud charges. Captain Gary Boswell of the Palm Springs Police Department said: "We're pleased that the task force has had such tremendous success in cracking this organized auto theft ring. It speaks well of the task force concept." Sheriff Larry Smith said: "From the beginning, this multi-agency task force has operated on monies collected by the state Department of Motor Vehicles In the United States of America, Department of Motor Vehicles (or DMV) is a commonly used name of the government agency of a U.S. state which administers the registration of automobiles (e.g., by issuing license plates), and/or the licensing of drivers (e.g. . One dollar from each vehicle registration fee goes back to the county in which it was registered. Car owners are getting a great return on their $1.00. In this case alone it is estimated that the R.A.I.D. Task Force dismantled a theft and fraud ring stealing up to $4 million per year!." District Attorney Grover Trask added: "The District Attorney's Office will seek asset forfeitures from the individuals and businesses involved under the state's criminal anti-profiteering statutes. These statutes are designed to discourage organized crime by providing for the forfeiture of all property acquired directly or indirectly as a result of organized crime." CONTACT: Sergeant Mark Lohman, 909/275-2438 Candysse Miller, 213/717-8593 (pager) |
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