Texas Woman Sentenced for $1.2 Million Insurance Fraud

December 9, 2008

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Texas State District Court Judge Tracy Holmes has sentenced former insurance company employee Brenda Buckaloo-Merchant to twelve years in prison, the Texas Department of Insurance reported.

Buckaloo-Merchant had previously pleaded guilty to a first degree felony — the theft of $1,208,316 while working as an adjuster for Unitrin Business Insurance Company of Dallas. A first degree felony carries a maximum sentence of 99 years in prison and a minimum sentence of 5 years imprisonment, and a fine of no more than $10,000.

The indictment and prosecution of Buckaloo-Merchant was the result of an investigation by the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office and Texas Department of Insurance’s (TDI) Fraud Unit.

On Sept. 25, 2008, Buckaloo-Merchant appeared in court before Judge Holmes and told the court that she used her position at Unitrin to steal over $1.2 million dollars from the insurance company. In describing the scheme to Judge Holmes, Buckaloo-Merchant said she wrote checks from Unitrin to a fictitious health care provider that was, in reality,. Buckaloo-Merchant. In addition to the twelve-year prison sentence, Buckaloo-Merchant has been ordered to pay restitution of $1,208,316 to Unitrin and a $3,000 fine.

Source: Texas Department of Insurance, www.tdi.state.tx.us

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Latest Comments

  • July 26, 2010 at 2:28 am
    V says:
    Ms. Holier-than-though got what she deserved
  • March 14, 2009 at 7:30 am
    Perceptive says:
    The managers at Unitrin were much too busy trying to pretend they knew what they were doing, to catch this thief. They were all fairly incompetent but kept their jobs while m... read more
  • March 2, 2009 at 9:51 am
    Doug says:
    I worked with Ms Buckaloo for 13+ years. She was probably the last person anyone would suspect of this crime. To my knowledge there was no prior indication to anyone this was ... read more
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