Haitian National Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison for Role in Eastern Connecticut Insurance Fraud Scheme |
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U.S. Attorney’s Office
District of Connecticut
2 October 2017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that MACKENZY NOZE, 33, a citizen of Haiti last residing in Norwich, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Alker Meyer in New Haven to 48 months of imprisonment for staging car accidents for the purpose of defrauding automobile insurance companies.
On June 15, 2017, a jury found NOZE guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, five counts of wire fraud and three counts of mail fraud.
According to the evidence presented during the trial, between March 2011 and February 2014, NOZE and others conspired to stage numerous car crashes in eastern Connecticut for the purpose of defrauding automobile insurance companies and enriching themselves. A high percentage of these planned crashes were single-vehicle accidents on remote roads where there were no witnesses other than the occupants of the crashed vehicle. After each staged accident, the defendants filed fraudulent property damage and bodily injury claims with various automobile insurance companies. They then collected payouts on the fraudulent claims from the victim insurance companies. These payouts typically ranged from approximately $10,000 to $30,000 per accident.
The evidence at trial indicated that NOZE participated in as many as 50 staged crashes, 11 of which were described in detail during the trial.
Judge Meyer ordered NOZE to pay restitution in the amount of $207,083.36.
NOZE was arrested on May 23, 2016, and is detained. He is a lawful permanent resident of the U.S. and faces immigration proceedings after he serves his sentence.
Six other individuals have been charged and convicted as a result of this investigation.
This matter has been investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Norwich Police Department and the National Insurance Crime Bureau. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Avi Perry and Michael J. Gustafson.