A wannabe Manitoban, a guilty son, and friends who crash together made the list of Manitoba Public Insurance’s annual Top 5 list of fraud claims. Fraudulent and suspicious claims are handled by MPI’s special investigation unit, which closed 2,100 cases last year and saved $8.2 million in what would have been payments on phoney claims.

1. Injured pedestrian: $15,000
   A pedestrian claimed he was hit by a car and the injuries left him unable to work but footage from one of the cameras showed no one had been hit.
2. Stolen car: $20,000
   The owner of a Porsche told his insurance adjuster the vehicle had been stolen from his apartment block parking lot in Winnipeg. But RCMP told MPI a badly damaged and vandalized Porsche had been located in a rural area, moved out there by the owner. He wanted to avoid major mechanical repairs.
3. Benefits: $500,000
   A man was severely injured in the United States after being involved in a crash. His family opened an injury claim with MPI but the man had not lived in Manitoba for several years, making him ineligible for benefits.
4. Stolen or crashed? $11,000
   A truck owner said his car had been stolen from his residence. One day after the reported theft, however, the truck rear-ended another vehicle and fled the scene, with several people witnessing the crash. The vehicle had been taken by the son without his father’s permission and had gotten into a collision.
5. Collision on purpose: $17,000
   Two vehicles collided and were badly damaged. It was discovered the two individuals knew each other and their vehicles were both in poor running condition. A traffic reconstructionist testified the collision was not accidental, but staged.

Anyone who knows someone involved in auto insurance fraud is urged to call MPI’s tip line at 204-985-8477 or toll-free at 1-877-985-8477. All calls are anonymous.

Read more at CBC News.

This article is summarized by Canadian Fraud News Inc.