PHILADELLPHIA -- Ten people have been arrested on insurance-fraud charges in what the state attorney general says was a staged bus accident in April 2004.

Altogether, 12 people are charged in the case, Attorney General Tom Corbett announced. He said a chartered casino bus owned by Wertz Motor Coaches of Marcus Hook, Pa., was rammed by a car in Germantown, Pa., shortly after it left for Atlantic City.

As it turned out, said Corbett, the car was owned by a cousin of one of the bus passengers, who later filed claims for treatment of injuries.

Corbett said 21 passengers were listed on the police report of the accident, but 29 filed claims with Lancer Insurance Co., which insured the Wertz coach.

"This alleged scheme was an elaborate attempt to scam Wertz Motor Coaches and Lancer Insurance out of thousands of dollars," Corbett said. "These are serious allegations that carry significant fines and jail time."

Corbett said the Wertz bus was scheduled to depart from the pick-up location at 1:30 p.m., but was delayed by Arthur Brown III, the group's leader. At approximately 2:40 p.m., Brown allegedly received a cell phone call and then determined they were ready to leave.

The investigation revealed that approximately five minutes after departing from the pick-up location, the bus was struck in the right middle luggage bay doors by an uninsured vehicle. Both vehicles sustained very little damage and were removed under their own power from the scene of the accident.

Corbett said 20 of the 21 passengers on the bus immediately reported injuries and were transported by the Wertz bus to the Medical College of Pennsylvania Hospital.

Lancer eventually received claims for all 21 passengers, plus eight individuals who were not on the bus at the time of the crash. The reported injuries were all "soft-tissue" injuries.

Corbett said the driver of the car also accompanied the bus to the hospital, but when police arrived, he left.

According to the criminal complaint, the owner of the car was a cousin of Shahiedah Nicholson, a passenger on the bus who sought medical treatment totaling $4,449 for 53 alleged therapy sessions for lower back pain that took place between April and September 2004.

Corbett said Nicholsons sister, Shaakira Nicholson; her aunt, Trina Nicholson, and her aunts husband, Antonio Tarrance, also filed insurance claims even though they were not on the bus at the time of the accident.

Shahiedah Nicholson allegedly called her sister to tell her about the accident, and told her she could start therapy and claim she was injured since her name appeared on the bus list.

Corbett said the bus was chartered by Brown for another individual who supplied the money and sold bus tickets with two of his brothers.

The affidavit states Brown allegedly filed claims for nine chiropractic sessions and pursued litigation against the insurance company. No monetary amount was provided for these sessions.

Lancer received medical bills for each of the 10 defendants arrested. The total amount billed for the 12 defendants being charged was more than $29,556, with more than $26,022 paid.

All 12 defendants are being charged with two counts of insurance fraud, one count of theft by deception, one count of criminal attempt to commit theft by deception, and one count of criminal conspiracy to commit theft by deception. Each charge is a felony of the third degree, which holds a maximum penalty of seven years imprisonment and a $15,000 fine.

The defendants range in age from 23 to 50.

Corbett said the investigation is still ongoing.