720 ILCS 5/17-10.5

(720 ILCS 5/17-10.5)

Sec. 17-10.5. Insurance fraud.

(a) Insurance fraud.

(1) A person commits insurance fraud when he or she knowingly obtains, attempts to obtain, or causes to be obtained, by deception, control over the property of an insurance company or self-insured entity by the making of a false claim or by causing a false claim to be made on any policy of insurance issued by an insurance company or by the making of a false claim or by causing a false claim to be made to a self-insured entity, intending to deprive an insurance company or self-insured entity permanently of the use and benefit of that property.

(2) A person commits health care benefits fraud against a provider, other than a governmental unit or agency, when he or she knowingly obtains or attempts to obtain, by deception, health care benefits and that obtaining or attempt to obtain health care benefits does not involve control over property of the provider.

(b) Aggravated insurance fraud.

(1) A person commits aggravated insurance fraud on a private entity when he or she commits insurance fraud 3 or more times within an 18-month period arising out of separate incidents or transactions.

(2) A person commits being an organizer of an aggravated insurance fraud on a private entity conspiracy if aggravated insurance fraud on a private entity forms the basis for a charge of conspiracy under Section 8-2 of this Code and the person occupies a position of organizer, supervisor, financer, or other position of management within the conspiracy.

(c) Conspiracy to commit insurance fraud. If aggravated insurance fraud on a private entity forms the basis for charges of conspiracy under Section 8-2 of this Code, the person or persons with whom the accused is alleged to have agreed to commit the 3 or more violations of this Section need not be the same person or persons for each violation, as long as the accused was a part of the common scheme or plan to engage in each of the 3 or more alleged violations.

If aggravated insurance fraud on a private entity forms the basis for a charge of conspiracy under Section 8-2 of this Code, and the accused occupies a position of organizer, supervisor, financer, or other position of management within the conspiracy, the person or persons with whom the accused is alleged to have agreed to commit the 3 or more violations of this Section need not be the same person or persons for each violation as long as the accused occupied a position of organizer, supervisor, financer, or other position of management in each of the 3 or more alleged violations.

(d) Sentence.

(1) A violation of paragraph (a)(1) in which the value of the property obtained, attempted to be obtained, or caused to be obtained is $300 or less is a Class A misdemeanor.

(2) A violation of paragraph (a)(1) in which the value of the property obtained, attempted to be obtained, or caused to be obtained is more than $300 but not more than $10,000 is a Class 3 felony.

(3) A violation of paragraph (a)(1) in which the value of the property obtained, attempted to be obtained, or caused to be obtained is more than $10,000 but not more than $100,000 is a Class 2 felony.

(4) A violation of paragraph (a)(1) in which the value of the property obtained, attempted to be obtained, or caused to be obtained is more than $100,000 is a Class 1 felony.

(5) A violation of paragraph (a)(2) is a Class A misdemeanor.

(6) A violation of paragraph (b)(1) is a Class 1 felony, regardless of the value of the property obtained, attempted to be obtained, or caused to be obtained.

(7) A violation of paragraph (b)(2) is a Class X felony.

(8) A person convicted of insurance fraud, vendor fraud, or a federal criminal violation associated with defrauding the Medicaid program shall be ordered to pay monetary restitution to the insurance company or self-insured entity or any other person for any financial loss sustained as a result of a violation of this Section, including any court costs and attorney's fees. An order of restitution shall include expenses incurred and paid by the State of Illinois or an insurance company or self-insured entity in connection with any medical evaluation or treatment services.

(9) Notwithstanding Section 8-5 of this Code, a person may be convicted and sentenced both for the offense of conspiracy to commit insurance fraud or the offense of being an organizer of an aggravated insurance fraud conspiracy and for any other offense that is the object of the conspiracy.

(e) Civil damages for insurance fraud.

(1) A person who knowingly obtains, attempts to obtain, or causes to be obtained, by deception, control over the property of any insurance company by the making of a false claim or by causing a false claim to be made on a policy of insurance issued by an insurance company, or by the making of a false claim or by causing a false claim to be made to a self-insured entity, intending to deprive an insurance company or self-insured entity permanently of the use and benefit of that property, shall be civilly liable to the insurance company or self-insured entity that paid the claim or against whom the claim was made or to the subrogee of that insurance company or self-insured entity in an amount equal to either 3 times the value of the property wrongfully obtained or, if no property was wrongfully obtained, twice the value of the property attempted to be obtained, whichever amount is greater, plus reasonable attorney's fees.

(2) An insurance company or self-insured entity that brings an action against a person under paragraph (1) of this subsection in bad faith shall be liable to that person for twice the value of the property claimed, plus reasonable attorney's fees. In determining whether an insurance company or self-insured entity acted in bad faith, the court shall relax the rules of evidence to allow for the introduction of any facts or other information on which the insurance company or self-insured entity may have relied in bringing an action under paragraph (1) of this subsection.

(f) Determination of property value. For the purposes of this Section, if the exact value of the property attempted to be obtained is either not alleged by the claimant or not specifically set by the terms of a policy of insurance, the value of the property shall be the fair market replacement value of the property claimed to be lost, the reasonable costs of reimbursing a vendor or other claimant for services to be rendered, or both.

(g) Actions by State licensing agencies.

(1) All State licensing agencies, the Illinois State Police, and the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation shall coordinate enforcement efforts relating to acts of insurance fraud.

(2) If a person who is licensed or registered under the laws of the State of Illinois to engage in a business or profession is convicted of or pleads guilty to engaging in an act of insurance fraud, the Illinois State Police must forward to each State agency by which the person is licensed or registered a copy of the conviction or plea and all supporting evidence.

(3) Any agency that receives information under this Section shall, not later than 6 months after the date on which it receives the information, publicly report the final action taken against the convicted person, including but not limited to the revocation or suspension of the license or any other disciplinary action taken.

(h) Definitions. For the purposes of this Section, "obtain", "obtains control", "deception", "property", and "permanent deprivation" have the meanings ascribed to those terms in Article 15 of this Code.

(Source: P.A. 96-1551, eff. 7-1-11; 97-1150, eff. 1-25-13.)