Two Brooklyn men have been sentenced to prison for orchestrating staged car crashes on New York City highways as part of an insurance fraud scheme that deliberately targeted other drivers. The staged car crash fraud case involved three collisions in 2024 on the Belt Parkway and Nassau Expressway, with participants seeking insurance payments for claimed vehicle damage and injuries.
The convictions come as New York expands its efforts to combat staged accidents and other forms of auto insurance fraud. State officials say fraudulent claims add costs to the insurance system. At the same time, prosecutors argue that deliberately causing highway crashes creates a direct safety threat for motorists who have no warning that they are being targeted.
Two men sentenced in staged crash scheme
Jaime Huiracocha, 53, and Victor Murillo, 34, both of Brooklyn, pleaded guilty to charges connected with three staged crashes. The NYPD investigated with assistance from investigators at the New York State Department of Financial Services.
Huiracocha pleaded guilty in May to insurance fraud in the third degree and conspiracy in the fifth degree. Queens Supreme Court Justice Jerry Iannece sentenced him to one to three years in prison on the insurance fraud charge and one year in jail on the conspiracy charge, with the sentences to run concurrently…