3 Earn Award for Combating Auto Insurance Fraud in Massachusetts

Two police officers and a prosecutor who work in the Northwestern District Attorney’s office in Northampton, Massachusetts, have earned a national award for combating auto insurance fraud.

Det. Lt. John Cummings, Trooper Corey Mackey, and First Assistant District Attorney Steven Gagne received their Insurance Investigator of the Year awards Monday from the International Association of Auto Theft Investigators. They are among six people named winners this year.

Cummings and Mackey were the lead investigators who helped dismantle a scheme believed to be the biggest car insurance fraud operation in western Massachusetts history.

The ringleader was a New York City woman who helped other New Yorkers file for insurance applications using fake addresses in western Massachusetts, where insurance rates are much lower.

In all, more than 40 people were charged.