Jail for man convicted of staging car crashes for insurance payouts

If a car intentionally crashes into a tree and nobody’s around, is there an insurance payout? Apparently so; plus jail time. 

Federal prosecutors reported convicted scammer Jonas Joseph will spend eight months in prison for his role in an insurance scheme involving staged car crashes in eastern Connecticut, the Press Herald newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Mr. Joseph was sentenced Wednesday in New Haven federal court after he was convicted in June of charges stemming from his involvement in six fraudulent accidents between March 2013 and February 2014, which resulted in a total loss to insurance companies of more than $95,000, the newspaper reported.

Prosecutors told reporters that he was part of a group that staged more than 50 crashes dating back to 2011 and that most of the crashes were single-vehicle wrecks on remote roads, where the drivers would hit a tree or other object and then leave the scene while the policyholder entered the vehicle and called for help, according to the Press Herald.