Winnipeg woman ordered to pay $75,000 back to Manitoba Public Insurance: Insurance scam discovered

In one of the biggest restitution orders ever granted Manitoba Public Insurance, a Winnipeg woman must re-pay the public auto insurer $75,339 after being found guilty of fraud over $5,000.

Roza Kantor, 48, was also given an 18-month conditional sentence today in Court of Queen’s Bench for her role in an elaborate insurance scam against Manitoba Public Insurance.

Kantor was involved in an automobile crash on Nov. 22, 1998, suffering a number of injuries. Soon after she began collecting income replacement payments as part of the coverage provided by Manitoba Public Insurance’s Personal Injury Protection Plan.

In the fall of 2001 a Manitoba Public Insurance case manager became suspicious due to several irregularities in the Kantor file. Soon after the file was forwarded to Manitoba Public Insurance’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU). A thorough investigation discovered that Kantor was in fact operating a business, while collecting income replacement payments.

Honest Manitobans shouldn’t have to pay for the dishonest actions of insurance fraudsters, Justice John Scurfield said yesterday while passing down his sentence. Scurfield also said he considered sending Kantor to jail for her crime to discourage anyone else from considering such criminal actions.

Last year the SIU investigated more than 3,000 files, resulting in a saving of about $10-million to honest Manitobans. In addition, Manitoba Public Insurance’s TIPS Line (985-8477) receives about 50 tips a month. These calls resulted in 128 investigations last year, saving premium payers about $2.7 million.