When was contacted by an insurance company, we were asked to find a missing Maserati. Their customer had filed a claim, stating that this very expensive vehicle had been stolen right out of his garage. But the insurance company saw several red flags in the claim. The claims adjuster discovered the claimant was experiencing serious financial problems and suspected the claim was filed in an effort to get some quick cash.
Experience by the teams has shown that people like to brag and show off material belongings and sometimes, illegal antics. And our investigators know what techniques to employ in pursuit of insurance fraud.
Immediately we began a background investigation accessing data bases restricted to only the highest levels of investigative teams. We also conducted a criminal background search.
As part of our investigation, we conducted an asset investigation, too. Although most often part of a search of divorce assets, finding hidden assets was an issue in this case. Quite a few missing assets were noted.
Tracking his movements and documenting them with surveillance equipment revealed frequent travels between the United States and Europe. He was also quite active on social media. Using social media engineering, we followed his social mobility and interactions.
During this process, we happened upon a Facebook post in which the suspect bragged about shipping his fancy car abroad so he could participate in a race. According to that five-week old post, he raced his candy apple red Maserati on a stretch of country road near Milan, competing with three other Maserati owners. In another post, the individual stated that he had wrecked the car during the race.
To verify whether these statements were factual, our research specialists traced the information to the specific area and learned that yes, an informal race of Maserati drivers had indeed taken place. In fact, two restaurant owners and a hotel manager verified this.
We verified that our suspect spent three nights in another motel close to that site.
We contacted several area repair shops, but found no record of a wrecked Maserati.
During a return phone call to one of the restaurant owners, they mentioned that a red Maserati had been damaged during the race and that it was towed to a nearby barn.
We located the barn and photographed the car, including the damage and the VIN numbers, to verify for the insurance company that their instincts were right on the money. Literally.
The other missing assets were not at issue for the insurance company – at least not yet – to prove insurance fraud in the claim for the Maserati fire. As always, included all the information we collected in a final report for the company just in case.
-Brenda McGinley, CEO, All in Investigations, All in Investigations
