Toronto, Ontario — September 14, 2015 — A five-year jail sentence was handed to Constable Carlton Watson, a 23-year veteran of the Peel Regional Police force, for his part in a staged collision ring. The Superior Court in Brampton convicted Constable Watson of multiple counts of fraud and other charges in connection with nine insurance claims dating back to 2010.
Watson was convicted of multiple counts of fraud over $5000, breach of trust, uttering forged documents and obstructing justice.
The court found Watson guilty of supporting false insurance claim schemes by providing false collision reports and related Highway Traffic Act tickets to legitimize reported losses.
In passing the guilty verdict this past February, Justice John Sproat said Watson was paid to provide accident reports to make staged accidents look legitimate, as part of a scheme that bilked insurance companies out of more than $1 million in indemnity payments and associated investigation and legal expenses.
“Staged collisions sometimes draw innocent drivers into dangerous situations that put their safety and security in jeopardy,” said Rick Dubin, Vice-President of Investigative Services at IBC. “We are encouraged to see the courts strike hard at the core of this practice. One day, hopefully, we will eliminate it.”
A KPMG report prepared for the Ontario Auto Insurance Anti-Fraud Task Force estimated that the cost of auto insurance fraud in Ontario could be as high as $1.6 billion annually.
IBC’s Investigative Services works with insurers and law enforcement. IBC encourages people with any information about insurance crime to call IBC’s anonymous TIPS line at 1-877-IBC-TIPS.
