RALEIGH — State authorities charged four more people today in connection with a scheme involving the staging of auto accidents to collect insurance payoffs.

So far, eight people have been arrested. The N.C. Department of Insurance is also asking for the public’s help in finding two more suspects who are at large.

State investigators have accused the group of being a “staged automobile accident ring,” that bilked insurance companies out of nearly $44,000 between January and November of last year. One claim for over $50,000 was denied, the department of insurance reported.

Zakia Katrell Bobbitt, Shaquana Jashel Burrough, Teresa Celeste Mullen and Catina Lashawn Williams, all of Raleigh, and Shaquana Jashel Burrough, of Louisburg, have been charged, the department of insurance announced in a press release this afternoon.

Bobbitt, 30, Mullen,35, and Burrough, 20, were all charged with one count each of insurance fraud, attempting to obtain property by false pretenses and conspiracy.

Williams, 38, was charged with two counts of insurance fraud, two counts of attempting to obtain property by false pretense and one count of conspiracy.

State authorities on Wednesday charged four other Raleigh residents in connection with the fraud. They are Tikara Denise Bynum, 23, Josalyn Jenice Cotten, 30, Robert Levelle Williams, 33, and Lopez Dovol Mullen, 33.

Investigators are looking for two more suspects; Tammy Haney, 31, with no known address, and Jocelin Anissa McAllister, 32, of 5375 Wayne St., Apt. D, Raleigh, is wanted for one count of felony conspiracy.

Anyone with information on their whereabouts is encouraged to contact the Raleigh Police Department at 919-996-3335 or the North Carolina Department of Insurance Criminal Investigations Division at 919 807-6840.