Latest Fraud Headlines
All the headlines from our Fraud Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Fraud Adds Up to 17% to Auto Insurance Injury Claims: IRC
Feb 4 2015 // A new study estimates that fraud and claim “build-up” add between $5.6 billion and $7.7 billion in excess payments to auto injury claims paid in the United States. The excess payments represented between 13...
Allstate Settles Mortgage Fraud Suit with Morgan Stanley
Feb 4 2015 // Allstate Insurance Co. agreed to settle a 2011 lawsuit accusing Morgan Stanley of fraud over more than $100 million worth of mortgage-backed securities in which the insurer invested. The largest publicly traded U.S. home...
ACE Group Warns UK SMEs About Higher Fraud Risk in 1st Quarter
Feb 4 2015 // Fraud cases are on the rise and the profile of fraudsters is changing to include more young individuals seeking to fund extravagant lifestyles, according to ACE Group. As pressure on bank balances grows after the...
Former California Agent Pleads Guilty in $6M Fraud Case
Feb 3 2015 // An Upland, Calif. man has pleaded guilty to federal bank fraud and tax charges in relation to a loan scam that reportedly netted him more than $5.9 million. Derek Richard Brewart, 53, a former licensed insurance agent and...
250 Vases Stolen from Central Oklahoma Cemeteries
Feb 2 2015 // Authorities are investigating the theft of 30 bronze vases from a Norman cemetery, and officials say more than 200 other vases have been stolen recently in central Oklahoma. Cleveland County Sheriff Joe Lester told the...
Georgia Agent Sentenced to 5 Years for Stealing Insurance Premiums
Feb 2 2015 // A Gwinnett County, Ga. man convicted on charges including insurance fraud has been sentenced to serve five years in prison. According to Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens, 56-year-old Ronald Alan Dunn of Loganville was...
Greenberg Calls New York Fraud Suit Waste of Time, Money
Jan 30 2015 // Ex-American International Group Inc. Chairman Maurice “Hank” Greenberg said New York’s pursuit of him through a decade-old fraud suit is a waste of taxpayer money, as the two sides prepare for a trial...
Organized Family Insurance Ring Busted in Southern California
Jan 29 2015 // Detectives from the California Department of Insurance’s insurance fraud enforcement division arrested 15 Los Angeles area residents Thursday morning for allegedly staging auto collisions and filing more than...
FBI Case Log: The Stolen Stradivarius
Jan 28 2015 // When a 300-year-old Stradivarius violin valued at more than $5 million was stolen from Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Frank Almond last year, investigators initially believed the theft may have been the work of...
Deputy US Marshal Admits Guilt in Texas Insurance Fraud Scheme
Jan 26 2015 // A San Antonio-based deputy U.S. marshal has pleaded guilty to wire fraud relating to an insurance fraud scheme. According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s office, Reynaldo Gonzalez entered his plea in San...
Reported Crimes Fell in First Half of 2014: FBI
Jan 26 2015 // The number of property crimes and violent crimes reported for the first six months of 2014 was down from the first six months of 2013, according to statistics from the FBI. The report, based on information from 11,009 law...
Penn. Family Faces Charges in Alleged $20M Insurance Fraud Scheme
Jan 26 2015 // A Pennsylvania family’s luxurious suburban lifestyle has been financed by more than $20 million in fraudulent insurance claims amid a series of mansion fires and repeated reports of jewelry theft, authorities said on...
New Charge Filed for Ex-President of Company Behind West Virginia Chemical Spill
Jan 26 2015 // A former Freedom Industries executive charged in a West Virginia chemical spill is facing a new federal fraud charge stemming from the company’s bankruptcy. A federal grand jury in Beckley handed up a superseding...
Florida PIP Report Shows Reduction in Rates and Fraud
Jan 26 2015 // Florida’s attempt to lower the cost of personal injury protection (PIP) automobile coverage is progressing as insurers’ rates have declined due in part to lower losses and fewer fraudulent claims. The Florida...
Ex-Kansas Insurance Agent Gets Prison Sentence for Client, Company Theft
Jan 26 2015 // Prosecutors say a former insurance agent in Kansas has been sentenced to 42 months in prison for stealing from his clients. The U.S. attorney’s office said that 43-year-old Jason Matthew Pennington of Wichita pleaded...
Insurance Adjuster Gets Prison Term for Fraud Scheme
Jan 26 2015 // The owner of an insurance adjusting company is headed to federal prison for his role in a scheme to defraud the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and several insurers out of at least $900,000. Federal prosecutors say...
Sandy Flood Insurance Issues Said to Be Focus of Criminal Probe
Jan 25 2015 // New York’s attorney general has opened a criminal probe into accusations by Hurricane Sandy victims that insurance companies rejected claims for flood damage to their properties based on falsified engineering...
5 Accused in Houston-Area Truck Crash ATM Theft
Jan 23 2015 // Five individuals are facing aggravated robbery charges after police in suburban Houston arrested them for allegedly robbing an ATM from a gas station. Police in Humble say several men used a stolen truck to ram into the...
Oklahoma AG Files Workers’ Comp Fraud Charges Against 2
Jan 23 2015 // Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt has filed workers’ compensation fraud charges in two separate cases. Pruitt’s office announced the charges against 30-year-old Nicholas Hurt and 48-year-old James Cramer....
Law Firms Accused of Fraud in Asbestos Litigation
Jan 21 2015 // U.S. personal injury lawyers allegedly concealed evidence and induced clients to commit perjury to drive up asbestos-related settlements and garner bigger fees, according to lawsuits unsealed on Tuesday in the bankruptcy...
