Needing more money to hire investigators and prosecutors to fight insurance fraud, South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster said that the state is not short on talent, not short on determination, but short on money.

Speaking to participants at the South Carolina Insurance Fraud Investigators annual training meeting, McMaster said budget cuts leaving his department with slightly more than $300,000 budgeted to fight fraud have left the state with just one prosecutor and two agents dedicated to fighting insurance fraud. 

State legislators have proposed a bill to increase the penalties on those who commit insurance fraud, including the creation of a civil enforcement unit within the state's insurance department.