My0gr81

Don't know what is more of a waste, the car or the kid, though he is 20 yrs old and did otherwise put his allowance to good use on other investments.

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/...cid=spartandhp

mmarshall

This kid really lucked out with a fine. Insurance fraud is an offense that can often lead to prison time. Perhaps it was one of those cases where he got off because of his rich parents.

RocketGuy3

iTrader: (1)

Completely idiotic that it can result in prison time. One of the many, many laws wasting taxpayer dollars and ruining lives by putting people in prison who don't need to be. I remember hearing that guy who dumped his Veyron got like 20 years IIRC? TWENTY DAMN YEARS? Trying to rip off an insurance company is worse than many forms of sexual assault, apparently...

... But I digress. Yeah, stupid kid.

mmarshall

Sorry, but I can't quite agree with your reasoning that it is a needless law. Fraud is fraud, and stealing is stealing, whether it is a company stealing from one person or one person stealing from a company. Same principle....different numbers. Not only that, but we're not talking about a cheap car here, either.....it was worth six figures. In many states, the cutoff between simple misdemeanor and grand theft (a felony) ranges from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand.

RocketGuy3

iTrader: (1)

I completely disagree that stealing from a company is the same as stealing from an individual, generally speaking. (For a similar reason to why I don't think companies should be allowed to make political contributions)

Anyways, I'm not saying these people shouldn't be punished -- I'm saying the punishment is disproportionate to the crime. Reminds me of John Oliver's show on mandatory minimums. Apparently in the eyes of the law, ripping off your insurance company for a couple mil is roughly equivalent to hijacking a plane. And twice as bad as raping a child.

EDIT: I will say, though, that in this case, the punishment seems fair. Maybe even a bit too soft, if anything... You could argue they may have deserved slightly more punishment for the fraud alone, but even putting that aside, arson is just dangerous. So my rant was somewhat tangential.

chikoo

That is because insurance industry is run by the rich up in NE / CT. They made sure nobody can rip them off.

My0gr81

A crime is a crime is a crime. In this case, attempted fraud and arson. While the consequences of attempted fraud are to the insurance company, the application of the punishment shouldn't be based on the victim's ability to absorb the impact.

For arson, they took the car to an industrial area, imagine if one or more of the businesses there got hit due to a wind gust, a burning piece flying or embers? The losses would be devastating to those businesses and employees/families. Even worse if there were chemicals stored there. What if the car was taken to a residential area? Would it warrant a higher sentence? (rhetorical questions, no need to answer)

This thread was really not meant to be a political discussion, otherwise it would be posted in the clubhouse. Let's get back to discussing the human element of the loss of the car compared to the idiocy of the "rich kid".

tex2670

If he stole $250,000, you wouldn't say that. But that's exactly what he tried to do--steal $250,000 by means of a fraud on the insurance company. If you steal $250,000, or attempt to do it, you should get jail time.

tex2670

I guess daddy never explained to him about the concept of a trade in....

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

$250k in fraud is stealing from individuals directly through higher insurance prices

My0gr81

That Ferrari was probably leased or over financed already. Heck, it could have been part of his own "ABCP"

He went for a massage to establish an alibi. That's one massage without a happy ending.

Vladi

Insurance companies are in fraud business anyway. Every time they try to lowball you so you have to take them to court to get what you deserve is a fraud or even worse claim you are not covered due to freak circumstances which again is a fraud. They lost all court battles against me and I haven't seen any of them being imprisoned. I don't feel sorry for them at all.

My0gr81

Insurance companies are in the business of managing risk and managing their liabilities by only paying out legitimate claims. If a claim is in dispute, they have review mechanisms in place and ultimately, the customer or the insurance company can resort to tort laws and the courts. Nothing criminal or fraudulent about that. If a pattern of abuse or misapplication of the terms of the policies can be established, then anti-trust laws, or a complaint to your state's attorney general's office is warranted for investigation or establishing that pattern.

This case is clearly not a case where the insurance company denied the claim. A police investigation on the theft and arson found evidence of an attempt at fraud, charges were laid, conviction and sentencing followed a proper criminal trial.

geko29

Correction: this is the literal definition of stealing from individuals indirectly.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

What a twerp. Hope the car gods smite him.