Arson as a method of committing fraud.
Arson as a method of committing fraud.
This type of fraud consists of the fact that fraudsters, having entered into an insurance contract, deliberately set fire to the insured property in order to stage an insurance event and receive an insurance payment. In preparation for committing the crime, fraudsters undertake the following actions:
– the insurance object is selected (for example, real estate);
– the staged event is selected (fire as a result of faulty electrical wiring, spontaneous combustion, etc.);
– the method of arson is selected;
– the means of arson are sought (flammable substances, flammable liquids);
– the time of arson is determined;
– places to hide the insured property are sought;
– a method of notifying (to whom, when) about the insured event is selected;
– roles are distributed among the participants in the arson;
– an alibi for the time of the arson is thought out.
To describe the methods of committing fraudulent actions in relation to the material interests of insurance companies, it is necessary to consider the methods of arson. Arson methods are traditionally divided into five groups:
— committed without special preparation, in the usual fire-hazardous concentration of flammable or flammable materials for the given conditions;
— committed with the use of auxiliary flammable materials and substances taken on site or brought from outside to ensure the ignition of the object;
— committed with the use of special technical means or pre-prepared incendiary devices that ensure greater reliability and secrecy in the implementation of criminal acts, as well as guaranteeing the specified ignition time;
– committed by deliberately creating conditions for a fire to start due to reasons that simulate an accident, unintentional violation of fire safety measures or carelessness;
– a combination of the above cases.
The fourth group from the named classification is more suitable for the considered method of committing fraud, since criminals stage a fire for other reasons, concealing the deliberate arson. In this case, the types of staging can be divided into the following types:
– fire due to technical reasons;
– spontaneous combustion;
– other reasons.
In order to stage a fire for the above reasons, fraudsters take the following actions:
– they prepare an artificial short circuit by breaking the insulation of wires;
— damage the electrical sockets (with the network section switched on, unscrew the bulb and short-circuit the central contact of the socket to the metal body, at the moment of switching on a short circuit occurs and a mass of hot metal particles fly apart within a radius of 1-1.5 m and fall on flammable objects);
— create conditions for spontaneous combustion of substances and materials prone to this;
— arrange an artificial short circuit in the electrical circuit using a clock mechanism.
A typical example of deliberate arson may be the case when the director of a commercial agency D. organized the arson of his retail pavilion with a warehouse in order to receive an insurance payment. Before concluding the insurance contract, D. took the goods for temporary use, which he returned to the real owners shortly before the arson.
There are known cases in practice when criminals staged a fire as a result of spontaneous combustion in the following way. Phosphorus matches were lowered into water, and the phosphorus settled on the bottom, after which the water was poured onto flammable objects and, under the influence of sunlight, spontaneous combustion occurred after some time.
The main task of arsonists is, firstly, to impose a version of the cause of the fire that is favorable to them, and secondly, to hide the fact of the arson and their participation in it. To do this, criminals involve accomplices-«eyewitnesses» and give false testimony during the investigation of the causes of the fire.
Intentional arson of insured property with the staging of arson committed by other persons. This method of fraud consists of the fact that criminals intentionally set fire to insured property, and then impose on law enforcement agencies the version that the arson was committed by other persons out of hooliganism or other motives. When setting fire to insured property, fraudsters can use the following means of arson:
a) immediate action (gasoline, kerosene, solvent; fuse such as a fuse, film; sawdust soaked in kerosene; signal flares, smoke, incendiary cartridges; explosive devices);
b) slow-action (electrical appliances plugged into the network and covered with flammable materials; connecting a piece of wire to the electrical circuit, with the other end led to a hidden place; the ends of the wire are connected with a filament of a lamp led into a tube with gunpowder; devices for the subsequent connection of incompatible substances: glycerin and potassium permanganate, turpentine and nitric acid, etc.; a combination of the above methods).
When committing a crime in this way, the fraudsters do not stage a faulty electrical wiring or spontaneous combustion, they simply hide the fact of their participation in the arson. There are frequent cases when fraudsters plant objects at the scene of a fire that support the version of arson committed by other people. In addition, criminals can report threats against them from unknown persons, facts of extortion. Such information will “help” the persons conducting the investigation to put forward the version the fraudsters need about deliberate arson committed by other people.
There are known cases when criminals stage arson in conjunction with another crime. The Kirov District Department of Internal Affairs of Yaroslavl investigated a case of staging a robbery and arson. On 16.01.92, the District Department of Internal Affairs received a report of a robbery of P., a security guard at the Snezhinka café-shop. According to him, three unknown persons demanded alcoholic beverages from him at night under the threat of arson. When he opened the door, they used a gas canister against him, seized the goods stored in the store, and then set the café on fire. The director of this enterprise, D., reported that as a result of the robbery and arson, the enterprise suffered damages in the amount of 17 million rubles. After the criminal case was suspended, he applied to the insurance company for compensation for damages. (Based on materials from: allinsurance.ru )
These types of cases require thorough investigation and legal support for legal proceedings.
The Center for Forensic Fire and Technical Expertise of the Penza Regional Foundation for Scientific and Technical Development is open, where you can apply for a range of consulting, legal, information and expert services in the field of fire safety.
The Center's specialists are ready to assess the fire safety status of facilities for the possibility of safe operation, determine the location of the fire and the immediate (technical) cause of the fire, establish a cause-and-effect relationship between the violations of regulatory acts in the field of fire safety that took place with the occurrence of a fire at the facility, its development and the ensuing consequences.