European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 20, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Aily cars crowd the parking area at Green acres mall Valley Stream . Green acres has been described As having the most car thefts and theft claims of any area in new York state. Putting the brakes on car theft fraud by Pat Milton associated press he accountant in Valley Stream ., had a familiar Story to Tell. He had parked his $30,000 British car at Long Island s Green acres shopping mall and it had been stolen. Police took his report. His wife came to pick him up at the mall. But instead of tracking the missing Sterling undercover police tailed the victim. He did not go Home to Princeton no. Instead he went 10 Miles to his father in Law s Home and opened the garage door. There in Plain sight was the car he had claimed was stolen. The Guy turned around and saw the cop and said oops you got me,1" said it. Lawrence Mulvey of the Nassau county ., police. It was Mulvey s unit surveillance apprehension vehicle enforcement or save that caught the accountant. In its first year of operation the innovative program has put the heat on car owners who filed bogus car theft reports to collect the insurance payoffs. The unit Banks on the fact that most people who practice this kind of fraud Are not professional criminals. They Are nervous and prone to mistakes and an observant police officer often can spot them. While police previously made two or three arrests for Auto fraud at Green acres in a year they made 113 such arrests there in the first 11 months of 1988, saving the insurance companies $1.9 million according to Mulvey. Save was created out of desperation. Green acres is the place to be for car thefts. There were 529 cars stolen there in 1986,427 in 1987 and 419 in the first 11 months of 1988. Green acres has the most car thefts of any area in new York state and is one of the worst in the country according to Thomas Cleary head of the insurance Industry s National automobile theft Bureau. Cleary says an estimated 25 percent of the 1.2 million car thefts reported each year Are fraudulent. Only about 3 percent of those fraudulent cases resulted in arrests he says. Some cars reported stolen at Green acres actually Are stolen. The new York City Border is nearby along with numerous chop shops where automobiles become automobile parts. But police say at least half of the reported thefts Are bogus. A police officers keep watch on the carpark at Green acres mall on Long Island. One Day last year the Nassau county police marshalled All their forces to Clamp Down on theft at the shopping Center a 100-acre, Middle class mall with scores of stores including Sears and . Penney. Sixty undercover police officers observed the parking lots from rooftops with binoculars monitored closed circuit cameras and pushed baby strollers up and Down car lanes. To their amazement four cars were reported stolen. We were baffled says inspector Mel Kenny. There was no Way those cars were  insurance fraud was the logical explanation. And save was the solution. Unlike the rest of the country where police investigate on a whodunit basis generally our prime suspect is the person reporting the car missing Kenny says. Eight trained save unit teams each consisting of a uniformed and a plainclothes officer work at the mall in eight hour shifts around the clock. A team responds to the scene of every alleged Auto theft. The uniformed officer records the official police report engaging the complainant in a conversation and casually asking questions to determine if the alleged victim fits the profile of an insurance fraud suspect. Meanwhile the undercover officer observes from a distance. By the answers offered and the behaviour of the victim we have a pretty Good idea at the end of the interview of whether we have a phony or not Mulvey says. Almost All victims legitimate or not refuse the officer s invitation to be driven Home in the patrol car. Instead most people say they plan to Call a spouse or Friend to pick them up from the mall. The officer leaves the mall immediately after taking the report the unsuspecting victim is then followed by the undercover cop. The legitimate victim almost always goes to a Public Telephone to Call someone to pick them up Mulvey says. The fakes however often take a More complicated route. They walk into the mall go into and out of stores and up and Down escalators before emerging to find a parked rental car a car with a waiting spouse or even the car they had just reported As stolen Mulvey says. Mulvey declines to reveal All of the methods or questions that the save units use. But he did provide a glimpse of some traps they set the victim claims he was in the mall shopping when his car was swiped. Is he carrying shopping bags and packages if he says he returned the merchandise police Check the store records. If the victim reports that the missing car is an older or cheaper Model the Odds Are 85 percent that the claim is fraudulent. Thieves Don t take that kind of car. Can the victim produce the keys to the car he just reported stolen. How Long does it take for a spouse to pick the victim up sometimes the victim s spouse arrives in five minutes though they live a half hour away. Many of those who have been arrested have been husbands and wives in collusion. In one instance a woman who reported her car stolen was interviewed by police in the parking lot and then picked up by her husband. The couple then drove Over the new York City line to an abandoned area near where firemen were hosing Down a car that had been1 set afire. The car that was burning was the car that the woman had reported missing. The couple had set the car afire to destroy the evidence. Legitimate victims Are sometimes hostile to police officers frequently asking Don t you Guys do your Job Mulvey says. The bogus victim tries to appear upset but is very very  police have arrested airline stewardesses postal workers stockbrokers doctors and teachers. Most of them Are hard working people who Are financially Over their Heads Mulvey says. They View insurance fraud As a victimless crime just taking a Little Money out of a system they have already paid  but the consequences can be stiff As Well. Most of those arrested Are charged with a felony but do not serve any jail time unless they have a significant criminal history. They face fines ranging from $100 to $1,000 they often lose their cars and May not be Able to get insurance coverage in the future. Monday february 20, 1989 the stars and stripes Page 13