LOS ANGELES - Twenty-three people have been arrested for allegedly participating in an insurance fraud ring that staged more than 60 auto collisions on Southern California freeways and bilked about $3 million from insurers, officials said Wednesday.

A seven-month investigation led to the arrest of Huntington Park lawyer Bernard Laufer, 52, as the alleged ringleader, said state Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi. Laufer, taken into custody Tuesday, faces charges of insurance fraud, grand theft and conspiracy.

The investigation continues and more arrests likely will be made, Garamendi said. The probe is looking into doctors and chiropractors who may have been involved in the scam.

The California Department of Insurance in April received a tip that a Humberto Carlon, 22, of La Verne, was recruiting people to participate in staged collisions. Carlon was arrested early in the investigation and has been sentenced to two years in state prison for his involvement.

The ring allegedly staged more than 60 collisions using a so-called "swoop and squat" technique, which involves braking suddenly to cause a rear-end collision.

Carlon allegedly recruited friends and family into the ring and several suspects were enticed to join at a church Bible study group, officials said. People typically were paid a few hundred dollars to cause the accidents and report injuries, Garamendi said.

No one was seriously injured in the collisions, but one victim had to close his business after his company truck was totaled in a staged accident, Garamendi said.

In 1996, a family of three burned to death on the Long Beach Freeway when their station wagon was crushed between two big-rigs and exploded. Two men were sentenced to 11 years in prison after admitting they staged the accident as part of an insurance scam.

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