Two men were sentenced Thursday for staging crashes on New York City highways to get fraudulent insurance payouts.
Jaime Huiracocha, 53, and Victor Murillo, 34, pleaded guilty to charges relating to the crashes that happened between August and October 2024.
Gov. Kathy Hochul and Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced the details of the investigation Thursday.
Prosecutors said Huiracocha and Murillo recruited others to participate in three separate crashes, enticing them with promises of thousands in cash.
Murillo was the designated driver. He would slam on the brakes of the car he was driving to intentionally cause the driver behind him to rear-end the car, prosecutors said. One time, the car behind Murillo braked to avoid a collision, but Murillo reversed into the vehicle to cause a crash, prosecutors said. That incident was caught on dashcam video.
Meanwhile, Huiracocha…
PROCUREMENT & EXPENDITURE (STOPPING KICKBACKS)
Procurement fraud usually involves inflated invoices or “fictitious” vendors.
- The Three-Way Match: Never pay an invoice unless you have matched the Purchase Order (PO), the Delivery Note (signed), and the Supplier Invoice.
- Vendor Master File Review: Review your vendor list annually. Look for suppliers with the same bank details or physical addresses as your employees.
- Dual Authorization: Implement a “Two-to-Sign” rule for all EFT payments above a certain threshold (e.g., R5,000).
- No “Cashing” of Checks: If you still use physical checks, strictly prohibit “Cash” as a payee and store blank checks in a dual-lock safe.