1. The Attorney General has primary jurisdiction to conduct criminal investigations into and may bring a criminal prosecution for any act alleged to be insurance fraud.

2. The Attorney General shall establish within his or her office a Fraud Control Unit for Insurance. The Fraud Control Unit must consist of such persons as are necessary to carry out the duties set forth in this section, NRS 679B.600 to 679B.700, inclusive, and NRS 686A.281 to 686A.292, inclusive, including, without limitation, attorneys and investigators.

3. The Attorney General, acting through the Fraud Control Unit:

(a) Is the single state agency responsible for the criminal prosecution of insurance fraud;

(b) Shall cooperate with the Commissioner of Insurance, insurers, and investigators and prosecutors of other states and the Federal Government in coordinating state and federal criminal investigations and criminal prosecutions involving insurance fraud;

(c) Shall protect the privacy of insurers and insured persons who are eligible to receive benefits pursuant to the provisions of title 57 of NRS and shall establish procedures to prevent the misuse of information obtained in carrying out this section; and

(d) May, upon written request, inspect the records of any insurer, the Commissioner of Insurance and the Division of Insurance of the Department of Business and Industry to conduct a criminal investigation into any act alleged to be insurance fraud.

4. To investigate any act alleged to be insurance fraud, the Attorney General and members of the Fraud Control Unit may conduct investigations into any activity related thereto occurring outside of this State, if necessary. To conduct these investigations, the Attorney General and members of the Fraud Control Unit may:

(a) Travel outside of this State;

(b) Cooperate with appropriate agencies or persons outside of this State; and

(c) Designate those agencies or persons to conduct investigations for the Attorney General.

5. When acting pursuant to this section, the Attorney General may commence an investigation and file a criminal action without leave of court, and has exclusive charge of the conduct of the prosecution. The Attorney General may conduct preliminary hearings or grand juries for the purposes of filing an information or indictment.

6. The Attorney General shall report the name of each person who has been convicted of insurance fraud to the Commissioner of Insurance.

7. The provisions of this section must not be construed to limit or diminish the jurisdiction of the Commissioner of Insurance to regulate persons transacting insurance in this State.

8. As used in this section, “insurance fraud” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 686A.2815.

(Added to NRS by 2001, 1100)