Published: March 21, 2007 03:00 am      

INVESTIGATOR: Private Eye tracks insurance fraud

It can get a bit tedious, sitting in an idling car, pulled off to the side of a country road in the pre-dawn hours.

But for Robert Wojtylak, owner of Checkmate Investigation Agency, boredom is just part of the job.

Wojtylak, a licensed private investigator, deals mainly with insurance fraud, doing shifts of surveillance to weed out those who are abusing the worker’s compensation system.

The woman he was tailing on an early morning last week has claimed to have trouble walking. She’s been on workers’ compensation for years, collecting payments while on disability.

About halfway through the four-hour surveillance, Wojtylak got what he was looking for.

The woman walked into her front yard, with no assistance or even a visible limp, completely unaware she was being watched.

As she turned to go back inside, she made a small skipping step over a ditch by the side of the road.

“Oh, thank you,” Wojtylak said to no one in particular, holding a video camera up to his eye. “Did you see that?”

It was only the first day of his two-day surveillance. While the evidence this morning may prove damning to the woman’s case, it’s not enough for the insurance companies to make a case.

In fact, finding evidence like this right away might lead the insurance company to ask for even more surveillance of the same woman.

“You gotta show a routine,” Wojtylak said. “You have to get them more than once.”

He remembers one case he was on with a man who was out of work with a back injury, but nevertheless repairing a roof.

“I got him on video carrying shingles up a ladder,” Wojtylak said.

He said most people aren’t being completely dishonest about their injuries — many simply exaggerate their conditions in order to get more money.

The Coalition Against Insurance Fraud says a 2003 survey determined one in four Americans say it’s okay to defraud insurance companies, while nearly one in 10 Americans would commit insurance fraud if they knew they could get away with it.

The insurance companies will usually call him after they already have suspicions someone is trying to cheat the system.

And sometimes, he comes back to the insurance company with evidence that the person has been telling the truth about their disability.

“Our job basically is just to document what the person is doing,” Wojtylak said “I know the old stigma, ‘Oh, the private investigator’s out to get me.’’ But we’re only there to document what they’re doing.”

Wojtylak is licensed as a private investigator in five states — New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Connecticut and New Hampshire.

Insurance companies contact him and his team of five employees, scattered all over Western New York, when they need surveillance. Each client has different request and rules for the surveillance.

Some cases can be completed in one day, while others may require days or even weeks of surveillance.

During the Christmas season, insurance adjusters and other clients take end-of-the-year vacations, and “we’re crying for work,” Wojtylak said. “Right now, it’s starting to pick up.”

The matrimonial part of the business is always in demand on Valentine’s Day, as husbands and wives or boyfriends and girlfriends try to catch their cheating partners in the act.

Over the winter, it’s necessary for Wojtylak to keep the vehicle running and keep the heat on, though doing that “makes it look suspicious,” he said.

Neighbors will often call the police to report a suspicious vehicle — which was the case last week, as a sheriff’s car approached Wojtylak’s as the sun came up over the horizon.

He showed his badge to the deputy, explained what he was doing there, and everything was straightened out immediately.

The job of a private eye involves more than just sitting around. If the person they’re tailing decides to leave the house, Wojtylak and his team members are often required to follow them wherever they go.

It’s during these cases when “your adrenaline starts going strong,” Wojtylak said.

The constant chasing and traveling takes its toll — the car Wojtylak bought last August already it has 16,000 miles on it.

“I’ve gotten my share of speeding tickets,” he said. “We can’t break the law. We bend the law, when we’re chasing someone.”

He must conduct the tailing and surveillance without breaking any laws or invading the person’s privacy. For instance, he’s not allowed to videotape through windows into people’s homes, but once they’re outside in the yard or on the road, the suspect is fair game.

He can’t trespass on private property or tap anyone’s phones — contrary to what movie viewers might think.

“If you follow someone like they do in the movies, you will get caught every single time,” he said.

He has yet to see a great representation of a private eye in the movies or on television, though some of the reality shows like “American Justice” on A&E sometimes come close.

The worst, he said, was “Magnum P.I,” a 1980’s TV show about the glamorous life of a fictional private eye on the beaches of Hawaii.

“Look, I don’t have a Ferrari,” Wojtylak said. “I sure as hell don’t have a helicopter at my beck and call.”

Though the life of a private investigator isn’t quite as exciting as it seems on TV, it’s also not quite as boring as it seems, he said.

“Every day, it’s something different,” he said.

Contact reporter April Amadon at 439-9222, Ext. 6251.