Surveillance can be used for a variety of reasons including fraud surveillance. Fraud surveillance is the ongoing process of monitoring activities, transactions, or behaviors to identify and investigate potential fraud. It is a crucial tool that helps support or break down a client or an opposition’s case. In this month’s case, RGH Investigations was called by an insurance company to help them identify possible fraud with a college student.
The “Injured” Student
RGH Investigations was hired by a major insurance company in Illinois that needed help with a case involving fraud surveillance. This insurance company was representing a major automotive company. The person suing the automotive company was a college student who was recently in a car accident. The college student was initially injured in the accident, but continued to claim he was unable to lift heavy items. He said he had trouble going about his normal day to day activities due to the injuries and was facing emotional and physical trauma. He also claimed that he was unable to drive the car, mostly due to emotional trauma. The injuries, he said, were the result of an airbag malfunction.
A Surveillance Plan
This case was an unfortunate chain of events for the student. To begin, the story seemed to have some holes in it and became questionable to the attorneys. One of the attorneys contacted RGH Investigations and shared their skepticism. We took the case and decided that due to the complexities of the student’s movements, we needed to set up a plan to ensure we wouldn’t be detected. For instance, we needed about three investigators for his travels to and from University classes. Each needed to blend in and adapt to the surroundings. One investigator was assigned to follow the student out of his house and to the University. Another attended class posing as a student, watching the physical actions. Lastly, another would follow him back home.
Caught in the Act
When the fraud surveillance began, we observed a vehicle with tinted windows leave the house in place of the student’s car. The vehicle with the tinted windows began its journey on the same path as the student could take if he was in his car. Following the car, we observed that the person driving the car was the student. We observed and documented his erratic driving. He was swerving dangerously in and out of traffic above the speed limit. After parking the car, the next investigator followed the student from the car to class. We observed that he easily picked up his backpack and set it down numerous times. Once class was over, he picked up his backpack again and returned to the car with the tinted windows. He was then followed home by yet another investigator observing again similar driving behaviors.
Throughout the week we observed the student, his physical behaviors did not change. We followed and observed his actions when he went to the gym. He was able to physically move during a workout without issue. We decided to track his movements over the weekend. We observed him at a car event, where he was maneuvering the car or ‘doing tricks’ as well as racing other cars. All of the collective actions were video taped and submitted as evidence. What do you think was the outcome when the tape was presented to the college student’s lawyers?
Protect Your Case with RGH Investigations
From college classes to underground Chicago car races, RGH Investigations maintained a professional and legal undercover presence. We were able to successfully blend in to a variety of environments to get quality data and footage. The evidence we documented was substantial enough to change the course of the court case. If you or someone you know is looking for a case involving fraud surveillance, call RGH Investigations today at 312-981-8770.
