LONG BEACH, N.Y. Lancer Insurance Co. says its special investigation division played a major role in the recent prosecutions of the perpetrators of fraud ulent claims against two charter bus companies it insures.

A total of 21 individuals were charged in the two cases, including a slimy chiropractor, Dr. Eileen Means of Churchville, Pa.

Ten of the 21 have been found guilty, four were found not guilty, prosecution of one was dropped, one was awaiting trial at the end of April, and the others are awaiting final disposition because they were cooperating witnesses for the case against Dr. Means.

Dr. Means was prosecuted separately and convicted in late of March of insurance fraud and will be sentenced May 18.

Greg Frey, manager of Lancers special investigation unit, and Tina Federici, senior special investigator in the investigation unit, provided testimony on the basis for Lancer bringing its suspicions of fraud to the Pennsylvania Attorney General, as well as the claims process, and documentation in its files.

Dr. Means had 26 charges filed against her, including submitting thousands of dollars worth of fraudulent bills to Lancer and Rutgers Insurance for treatments to patients who claimed they had been injured in the staged bus accidents. (See Sept. 15, 2008, Bus & Motorcoach News.)

"Dr. Means scam was just another part of the elaborate attempt to scam the bus companies, Lancer and Rutgers," Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett said last fall in announcing the charges against Means. "The treatments she billed for were not done and, even if they had been done, they would have served no purpose other than to defraud the insurers."

The first of the two cases dates back to August 2003 when, according to Corbett, a charter coach operated by Starr Transit of Trenton, N.J., and bound for Atlantic City from Philadelphia, was struck by a car in the Germantown section of Philadelphia.

That event, which resulted in only minor cosmetic damage to the coach, triggered 14 claims from individuals who said they suffered "soft tissue" (i.e., whiplash-type) injuries.

The second incident happened in April 2004, when a bus belonging to Wertz Motor Coaches of Marcus Hook, Pa., was involved in a similar accident at the same intersection in Germantown. (See Sept. 15, 2007, Bus & Motorcoach News.)

That incident, which also caused only minor damage to the bus, resulted in 29 claims from persons claiming to have suffered "soft tissue" injuries.

Subsequent investigations by Corbetts office, with the assistance of Lancers special investigation unit, led to the charges being filed against the bogus claimants and Means.

"In these tough economic times, incidents of fraud against coach and bus companies is on the rise, and close cooperation between bus company managers and special investigative unit investigators at bus insurance specialists, like Lancer, is critical to stemming this costly criminal activity," said Lancer.