Latest Fraud Headlines
All the headlines from our Fraud Topic Page, ordered by recency.
State Farm Sues Mississippi Attorney General over Criminal Probe
Nov 5 2007 // State Farm Insurance Cos. is suing Mississippi’s attorney general for allegedly violating an agreement to end a criminal investigation of the insurer’s handling of claims on the Gulf Coast after Hurricane...
Washington County Forms Special Unit for Complex Crimes
Nov 5 2007 // Washington’s King County prosecutor’s office has a new division to handle complex financial crimes. It will prosecute cases of identity theft, mortgage and insurance fraud and computer offenses. Prosecutor Norm...
Ind. woman accused of stealing son’s insurance gets probation
Nov 4 2007 // A Portage, Ind., woman who pleaded guilty to stealing $250,000 in life insurance money after her son died in Iraq was sentenced to eight years of probation. Janie Lee Espinoza admitted taking her son’s life insurance...
National Insurance Crime Bureau: Vehicle Theft Drops Again in 2006
Nov 4 2007 // In 2006, nearly 1.2 million motor vehicles were reported stolen, which is 42,417 fewer than the number stolen in 2005 — representing the third year in a row that vehicle theft has declined. Even so, every 26.4 seconds a...
Court Suspends Rather than Disbars N.H. Lawyer for Insurance Fraud
Nov 2 2007 // A New Hampshire lawyer who admitted to insurance fraud has been suspended for two years. The Supreme Court punishment was longer than one conduct committee recommended for James Grew, but much less than that suggested by...
Fraud Disaster Task Force Formed in Wake of Disaster
Nov 2 2007 // California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and San Diego Sheriff Bill Kolender’s Office announced the creation of a special task force to fight fraud. This task force...
Vancouver Brothers Charged with Fraud
Nov 1 2007 // Jerry and James Schram, brothers and owners of a Vancouver, Wash., excavation business, pleaded not guilty in Clark County Superior Court to 31 felony counts each for violating state labor laws. Trial is scheduled for Jan....
3 in Kentucky Face Insurance Fraud Charges
Oct 31 2007 // Three Jefferson County, Ky., residents were indicted on insurance fraud charges after allegedly filing inaccurate payroll data with a workers’ compensation insurance carrier, resulting in an underpayment of more than...
Feds Require Financial Firms to Take Identity Theft Prevention Steps
Oct 31 2007 // Federal regulators are requiring that every financial institution have a program to detect and prevent identity theft on consumer accounts. The federal financial institution regulatory agencies and the Federal Trade...
3 Jacksonville, N.C., Women Arrested on Allegations of Insurance Fraud
Oct 30 2007 // North Carolina Insurance Department enforcement officials arrested three Jacksonville women on charges stemming from allegations that they were involved in a drunk driving accident and falsified an auto insurance claim...
S.D. Court Says Insurance Does Not Cover Lawsuit on Wife Stealing
Oct 30 2007 // South Dakota’s public policy prevents insurance from covering damages in lawsuits against those accused of stealing another’s spouse, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday. The high court’s unanimous...
Texas Sept. Enforcements Result in Nearly $376K in Fines, Restitution
Oct 30 2007 // Enforcement actions taken by Texas Insurance Commissioner Mike Geeslin that became final during September 2007 include 12 license revocations, three license denials and fines and restitution totaling $375,983, the Texas...
Mich. H.E.A.T. Auto Theft Program Honors Top Leaders
Oct 26 2007 // Michigan’s H.E.A.T. (Help Eliminate Auto Thefts) program celebrated its 22nd anniversary with a special awards ceremony and breakfast this week. According to H.E.A.T. officials, since its inception in 1985, H.E.A.T.,...
British Petroleum to Pay More Than $370M for Violations in U.S.
Oct 26 2007 // British Petroleum and several of its subsidiaries have agreed to pay approximately $373 million in fines and restitution for environmental violations, the U.S. Department of Justice announced. The sanctions stem from a...
UK’s Independent Insurance Execs Get Jail Terms for Fraud
Oct 25 2007 // Until June 2001 Independent Insurance was the third largest P/C insurer in the U.K. Then it all fell apart. Shady loans to founder and former chief executive Michael Bright, cover-ups in accounting and failures to pay...
N.C. Woman Arrested for Insurance Fraud
Oct 25 2007 // N.C. Insurance enforcement officials arrested a Wake County woman, charging her with one count of obtaining property by false pretense. Seung Yon Yu Johnson, of Raleigh was processed at the Guilford County jail and...
Banks Allege TJX Under-reported Number Affected by Data Thefts
Oct 25 2007 // A group of banks alleged in a court filing ithat 94 million accounts were affected by the theft of personal data from Massachusetts-based TJX Cos. — more than double the number the company previously reported in what...
Miss. Woman Arrested for Insurance Fraud
Oct 24 2007 // A Jackson, Miss. woman faces insurance fraud charges, Attorney General Jim Hood’s office announced Monday. A news release from Hood’s office said Dianne Smith, 39, was arrested Friday. She was booked into the...
Vt. Gets Funds to Fight Internet Crimes
Oct 24 2007 // Vermont law enforcement agencies fighting Internet crimes against children are getting some help from the federal government. U.S. Attorney Tom Anderson says the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force will receive a...
Report: Las Vegas No. 1, Phoenix Area No. 4 in Nation’s Auto Thefts
Oct 24 2007 // The Phoenix area has the nation’s fourth highest auto-theft rate, according to a recent National Insurance Crime Bureau report. Of the 54,849 vehicles that were stolen in Arizona in 2006, nearly 40,000 of them were...
