Senate Bill No. 381
(By Senator Minard)
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[Introduced January 30, 2007; referred to the Committee on
Banking and Insurance; and then to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §33-4-8 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; to amend said code by adding thereto a new
section, designated §33-41-8b; and to amend and reenact
§33-41-11 of said code, all relating to insurance fraud;
clarifying that the insurance code contains specific criminal
penalties for felony offenses; authorizing certain employees
of the fraud unit of the Insurance Commission to present
criminal complaints directly to a magistrate; and extending
the statute of limitations for certain misdemeanors involving
insurance fraud.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §33-4-8 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; that said code be amended by adding
thereto a new section, designated §33-41-8b; and that §33-41-11 of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. GENERAL PROVISIONS.
§33-4-8. General penalty; statute of limitations.
(a) In addition to the refusal to renew, suspension or
revocation of a license, or penalty in lieu of the foregoing,
because of violation of any provision of this chapter, it is a
misdemeanor for any person to violate any provision of this
chapter, and any
unless the violation is by this chapter or other
law of this state declared to be a felony. Unless another penalty
is provided in this chapter or by the laws of this state, every
person convicted of a misdemeanor for the violation of any
provision of this chapter shall be punished by a fine of not more
than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment confinement in jail
for not more than six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment
confinement.
(b) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the
contrary, a prosecution for any misdemeanor offense that involves
fraudulent activity related to the business of insurance and which
arises out of sections thirteen, fourteen, twenty, twenty-a,
twenty-four, twenty-four-e, twenty-four-f, twenty-four-g and
thirty-seven of article three, chapter sixty-one of this code shall
be commenced within three years after the offense is committed.
ARTICLE 41. INSURANCE FRAUD PREVENTION ACT.
§33-41-8b. Fraud investigators may present complaint directly to magistrate.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the
contrary, any person authorized under this article to initiate and
conduct investigations may submit complaints directly to a
magistrate
upon review and approval by the prosecuting attorney
, if
the complaint is based upon violations of the provisions of chapter
twenty-three, chapter thirty-three, article three of chapter
sixty-one, and section five, article four of chapter sixty-one
relating to the business of insurance.
The complaint shall be in the form of a written statement of
the essential facts constituting the offense charged. The
complaint shall be presented to and sworn before a magistrate in
the county where the offense is alleged to have occurred.
If it appears from the complaint, or from an affidavit or
affidavits filed with the complaint, that there is probable cause
to believe that an offense has been committed and that the
defendant committed it, a warrant for the arrest of the defendant
shall be issued to any officer authorized by law to arrest persons
charged with offenses against the state.
§33-41-11. Fraudulent claims to insurance companies.
(a) Any person who knowingly and willfully and with intent to
defraud submits a materially false statement in support of a claim
for insurance benefits or payment pursuant to a policy of insurance
or who conspires to do so is guilty of a crime and is subject to the penalties set forth in the provisions of this section.
(b) Any person who commits a violation of the provisions of
subsection (a) of this section where the benefit sought exceeds one
thousand dollars in value is guilty of a felony and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be confined imprisoned in a correctional
facility for not less than one nor more than ten years, fined not
more than ten thousand dollars, or both or in the discretion of the
circuit court confined in a county or regional jail for not more
than one year and so fined.
(c) Any person who commits a violation of the provisions of
subsection (a) of this section where the benefit sought is one
thousand dollars or less in value, is guilty of a misdemeanor and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in a county or regional
jail for not more than one year, fined not more than two thousand
five hundred dollars, or both.
(d) Any person convicted of a violation of this section is
subject to the restitution provisions of article eleven-a, chapter
sixty-one of this code.
(e) In addition to the foregoing provisions, the offenses
enumerated in sections twenty-four-e through twenty-four-h,
inclusive, article three, chapter sixty-one of this code are
applicable to matters concerning workers' compensation insurance.
(f) The circuit court may award to the unit or other
law-enforcement agency investigating a violation of this section or other criminal offense related to the business of insurance its
cost of investigation.
(g) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the
contrary, a prosecution for any misdemeanor violation of this
section shall be commenced within three years after the violation
was committed.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to clarify the felony
offenses provided in the insurance statutes. The bill authorizes
certain employees of the fraud unit of the Insurance Commission to
present criminal complaints directly to a magistrate and it extends
the statute of limitations for certain misdemeanors involving
insurance fraud to three years.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
§33-41-8b is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring
have been omitted.
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