Latest Fraud Headlines
All the headlines from our Fraud Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Former Roselle, N.J. Mayor Headed to Jail for Insurance Fraud
Apr 14 2015 // The former mayor of Roselle, New Jersey, has been sentenced to 90 days in jail for insurance fraud over false reports made after a hit-and-run accident. NJ.com reports that Garrett Smith was sentenced on April 10 after...
How Media Portrayals Influence Workers’ Compensation Fraud
Apr 14 2015 // The depiction of workers’ compensation fraud by the media has affected the public’s perception of the crime, according to claims experts. While workers’ comp fraud is often depicted in a comedic way, that...
Insurance Doesn’t Tackle Underlying Problem of Cyber Crime: Bloomberg View
Apr 13 2015 // Companies are finding a way to minimize the repercussions when their digital security is violated. Unfortunately, they’re turning to the same safeguards that protect the guitar-strumming hands of Keith Richards, the...
Feds Charge 42 in Florida With $21M in Identity Theft Fraud Losses
Apr 13 2015 // Federal investigators say 42 people in South Florida have been charged with identity theft and fraud that involved intended losses of $21 million. Miami U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer said Thursday the suspects were indicted...
Massey Ex-CEO Blankenship’s Criminal Trial Moved to July
Apr 12 2015 // Former Massey Energy Co. Chief Executive Officer Donald Blankenship was given a three-month reprieve to prepare for a criminal trial over an April 2010 explosion that killed 29 miners. The blast at the Upper Big Branch...
Former Maryland Agent Pleads Guilty to Insurance Fraud
Apr 10 2015 // Authorities announced that a Hagerstown, Maryland, woman pleaded guilty in the Circuit Court for Washington County to one count of felony insurance fraud having a value of $300 or more. Maryland Attorney General Brian...
Trial Ordered for Pennsylvania Family Accused of $20M Insurance Fraud
Apr 10 2015 // A judge has ordered members of a Pennsylvania family whose mansion had three fires in five years to stand trial in a $20 million insurance fraud case. Political fundraiser and hostess Claire Risoldi and her family are...
North Carolina Contractor Jailed for Taking Insurance Money for Fraudulent Jobs
Apr 10 2015 // Authorities are accusing a contractor of taking more than $9,000 from insurance companies for roofing jobs in Richmond County, N.C., that he didn’t do. The Richmond County Daily Journal reports 42-year-old David...
Jury Finds California Woman Guilty On Multiple Counts of Insurance Fraud
Apr 8 2015 // Jill Audette, 28, of San Diego, Calif., was convicted on five felony counts of insurance fraud and leaving the scene of a collision after falsely claiming her car was stolen and involved in a hit and run collision....
California Agent Nabbed on Bogus Bond, $100K Premium Theft Charges
Apr 8 2015 // Licensed insurance agent Lars Hedegaard, 63, of Danville, Calif. was arrested on two felony counts of grand theft. Hedegaard was doing business as Westport &Associates Insurance Services Inc. when he allegedly issued...
Four Arrested for Involvement in Florida PIP Fraud Scam
Apr 8 2015 // Four individuals have been arrested in Broward County, Fla. for their involvement in a PIP (personal injury protection) scam, according to a statement by the Florida Department of Financial Services’ Division of...
Former California Agent Convicted of Stealing School Employee Identities
Apr 7 2015 // Magaly Morales, 51, a former life insurance agent, has been sentenced to three years and four months in state prison for stealing information from school district employees in 13 California counties. Morales last week...
‘Crash and Buy’ Fraud Seen Growing in Md.
Apr 6 2015 // The Maryland Insurance Administration (MIA) said “crash and buy” auto insurance schemes are a growing trend in the state. When an uninsured driver crashes, buys insurance, then claims the accident happened...
U.S. Threatens Economic Sanctions Against Cybercrimes, Spying
Apr 2 2015 // President Barack Obama signed an executive order Wednesday allowing the use of economic sanctions for the first time against perpetrators of destructive cyber-attacks and online corporate espionage. That will let the...
Jewelry Expert Testifies in Pennsylvania Insurance Fraud-Fires Case
Apr 1 2015 // A local GOP fundraiser in Pennsylvania charged in a $20 million insurance scheme after three mansion fires in five years cursed and discussed the Mafia while meeting with a jewelry appraiser about her claims, the appraiser...
NYC Blast Probe Highlights Problem of Stealing Gas
Apr 1 2015 // It was a run-of-the-mill complaint — a smell of gas — with a troubling explanation: Someone had improperly tapped into a Manhattan building’s gas line, and it was leaking. The issue was quickly resolved....
Missouri Police: At Least 20 Trucks Stolen as Part of Theft Ring
Mar 31 2015 // Authorities in eastern Missouri are trying to determine just how many trucks were stolen in a theft ring that struck several Missouri towns along Interstate 44. The Washington Missourian reports that police now believe at...
Auto-Theft Task Forces Closing Amid Illinois Budget Crisis
Mar 31 2015 // Officials with police-run auto-theft task forces say they are shutting down across Illinois due to state spending freezes. Separately, the (Peoria) Journal Star also reports that a bipartisan deal reached in the state...
Arkansas Bill Would Prevent Claim Denial for Damage by Stolen Vehicle
Mar 25 2015 // A bill to be considered by the Arkansas Senate today would prevent auto insurers from denying a claim for damage caused by a stolen vehicle even if “a valid police report of the theft of vehicle has not been...
2 Mass. Roofing Company Owners Indicted for Alleged Work Comp Fraud
Mar 25 2015 // Two business owners in Milford, Massachusetts, have been indicted in connection with failing to accurately report their total payroll and workforce to avoid paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in insurance premiums,...
