NCJ Number
168422
Journal
Journal of Forensic Identification Volume: 46 Issue: 4 Dated: (July/August 1996) Pages: 418-431
Date Published
1996
Length
14 pages
Annotation
Radiographic comparison was used to identify and prosecute fraud in a case in which the modus operandi involved the simultaneous filing of multiple worker compensation claims by several individuals for the same injury under assumed identities.
Abstract
In September 1989, police detectives executed a search warrant at a storage locker in Colorado Springs. The search disclosed numerous items believed to belong to the FUQRA sect, a group originating in Pakistan. The items included explosives, handguns, silencers, military training manuals, bomb-making instructions, and numerous FUQRA-related publications. Documents found in the course of the search included blank but genuine birth certificates and blank Social Security cards. Subsequent investigation revealed FUQRA members had defrauded the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment of nearly $500,000 between September 1984 and January 1992 by filing fraudulent worker compensation claims. Radiographic examination found the overall pattern of many identical traits among radiographs showed injuries originated from the same individual, although claims for more than one individual were filed. Several FUQRA members were successfully prosecuted and sentenced to the Colorado State Penitentiary for 16 years. 10 references and 4 figures