A married couple in St. Petersburg operated as car dealers while engaging in a pattern of deceit that harmed drivers and insurance providers. Over a three‑year span, they accumulated around 8 million rubles through schemes that involved staged incidents and questionable claims. This case was highlighted by the head of the VSS working group, Mikhail Yanenko-Bazanov, who serves as the vice president of AlfaStrakhovanie JSC NWRC. The discussion framed the situation as a notable example from the city’s automotive market, illustrating how certain players exploit gaps in the system for personal gain.
Yanenko-Bazanov noted that more than forty accidents involving a pair of car carriers were recorded across several insurers. In many instances the husband presented himself as the injured party, presenting scenarios where the other driver failed to maneuver properly, often at roundabouts, and collided with him. The pattern leaned on a sequence where the at‑fault driver would be identified by investigators, placing responsibility on the party that yielded to traffic rules in the moment of impact. The coordination appeared to be strategic, with the targets of the incidents chosen to maximize the likelihood of a payout.
When evidence such as video footage or witness statements was missing, road inspectors defaulted to assigning fault to the driver who did not yield, a practice that allowed the fraud to continue. A considerable share of these events took place in the northern sectors of the city, where the culprits leveraged the availability of high‑value used foreign vehicles to facilitate repairs and inflate costs. The use of premium cars in the scheme helped mask the true nature of the incidents and complicated the insurers’ ability to contest claims effectively.
Only one recorded accident was verified by a dedicated camera, which allowed the insurance company to perform a precise video review and promptly deny the claim. In all other cases, however, the accidents occurred in locations lacking camera coverage. The problem was compounded by a relative scarcity of such recording infrastructure in St. Petersburg compared with Moscow, giving scammers a wider window of opportunity. The head of the investigative group stressed that the absence of surveillance infrastructure in many districts created conditions that enabled these fraudulent actions to persist, and critics argued that more robust monitoring would deter similar fraud schemes in the future.
Earlier reports noted a shift in the OSAGO market during the third quarter of a recent year, with total contributions reaching a higher level than the same period a year earlier. Industry observers highlighted this trend as part of broader dynamics affecting pricing, risk pools, and the operational environment for insurers across the region. These figures help illustrate the economic stakes and the impact of fraudulent activity on legitimate policyholders, reminding stakeholders of the importance of rigorous claim assessment, enhanced surveillance, and ongoing enforcement to protect consumer interests and market integrity.