Norwich Man Pleads Guilty to Role in Insurance Fraud Scheme

NEW HAVEN, CT – A Norwich man pleaded guilty Tuesday to wire fraud stemming from his involvement in an insurance fraud scheme.

According to a release, Frandy Dugue and others conspired to stage approximately 50 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 about $10,000 to about $30,000 per accident.

In pleading guilty, Dugue admitted his personal involvement in a staged automobile crash in Killingly on Dec. 14, 2013. A citizen of Haiti and a lawful permanent resident of the United States, Dugue was arrested on May 20 and is released on bond.

He will appear again in court on Nov. 1, at which time DUGUE faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years. This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Norwich Police Department and the National Insurance Crime Bureau, with the assistance of the Mohegan Tribal Police Department.