Maryland Code, INSURANCE 2-405
Terms Used In Maryland Code, INSURANCE 2-405
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Person: includes an individual, receiver, trustee, guardian, personal representative, fiduciary, representative of any kind, corporation, partnership, business trust, statutory trust, limited liability company, firm, association, or other nongovernmental entity. See
- Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
- Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
- state: means :
(1) a state, possession, territory, or commonwealth of the United States; or
(2) the District of Columbia. See
(1) has the authority to investigate each person suspected of engaging in insurance fraud;
(2) if appropriate after an investigation:
(i) shall refer suspected cases of insurance fraud to the Office of the Attorney General or appropriate local State‘s Attorney to prosecute the person criminally for insurance fraud;
(ii) shall notify the appropriate professional licensing board or disciplinary body of evidence of insurance fraud that involves professionals;
(iii) shall notify the appropriate professional licensing board of evidence of gross overutilization of health care services;
(iv) shall notify the Workers’ Compensation Commission of suspected cases of insurance fraud referred to the Office of the Attorney General or appropriate local State’s Attorney under subparagraph (i) of this paragraph that involve the payment of compensation, fees, or expenses under the Workers’ Compensation Law; and
(v) shall assist local and State law enforcement agencies in the prosecution of automobile theft;
(3) shall compile and abstract information that includes the number of confirmed acts of insurance fraud and the type of acts of insurance fraud;
(4) in exercising its authority under this subtitle, shall cooperate with the Department of State Police, Office of the Attorney General, local State’s Attorney in the jurisdiction in which the alleged acts of insurance fraud took place, and appropriate federal and local law enforcement authorities;
(5) shall operate or provide for a toll-free insurance fraud hot line to receive and record information about alleged acts of insurance fraud;
(6) in cooperation with the Office of the Attorney General and Department of State Police, shall conduct public outreach and awareness programs on the costs of insurance fraud to the public; and
(7) shall investigate allegations of civil fraud and, if appropriate after investigation, impose administrative penalties and order restitution in accordance with § 27-408 of this article.