Latest Fraud Headlines
All the headlines from our Fraud Topic Page, ordered by recency.
S.D. Man Sent to Prison for 20 Years for Insurance Fraud
Dec 3 2007 // A former Sioux Falls insurance agent convicted of embezzling money from two clients in nursing homes has been sent to prison for 20 years. Paul Wentzlaff, 46, pleaded guilty in September to embezzlement and insurance fraud...
Fraud Investigators Brace for Arsons from Subprime Mortgage Crisis
Dec 3 2007 // Insurance fraud investigators are girding for an expected rash of arsons by cash-strapped homeowners trying to avoid foreclosures and ballooning monthly payments as the subprime mortgage crisis deepens. “Home arsons...
British Bankers Plead Guilty to Wire Fraud in Enron Case
Nov 30 2007 // Three British bankers who were set to go to trial in Houston, Texas, for their roles in a fraudulent scheme with former Enron Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow changed their pleas to guilty. David Bermingham, Giles...
3 Arrested in W. Va. on Insurance Fraud Charges
Nov 30 2007 // West Virginia Insurance officials arrested three individuals in Putnam County for alleged insurance fraud. The Insurance Commissioner’s Fraud Unit arrested Diana K. Phillips, 52, of Hurricane, Charles Keith Phillips,...
Mapquest Printout Leads to N.Y. Insurance Fraud Sentencing
Nov 28 2007 // A 36-year-old Rochester, N.Y. man, whose Mapquest directions led police to his home, was sentenced to five years probation in Monroe County Court on Nov. 26 for trying to fraudulently obtain a $10,282 insurance...
Ky. Grand Jury Indicts Insurance Agent on Fraud Charges
Nov 27 2007 // A former Kentucky insurance agent has been indicted on fraud charges after allegedly forging signatures on 114 disability insurance applications. According to court documents, Ray W. Kennedy, 46, of Owensboro, Ky.,...
Texas October Enforcement Actions Total Nearly $650K
Nov 26 2007 // The Texas Department of Insurance announced enforcement actions taken by Commissioner Mike Geeslin that became final during October. The actions include a license revocation, a license denials and fines and restitution...
Stolen Autos’ Good/Bad News
Nov 18 2007 // A recent report from the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) said auto theft statistics from 2006 indicate vehicle theft declined for the third year in a row. According to the NICB, 1.19 million motor vehicles were...
Keep the McCarran-Ferguson Act Insurance Exemption
Nov 18 2007 // Federal antitrust laws are intended to ensure a competitive market by prohibiting companies from acting in concert with each other, such as through price-fixing or sharing arrangements that exclude other competitors. The...
Feds Say Mich. Doctor Convicted of Fraud Exposed Patients to Infection
Nov 16 2007 // Federal court records say a Michigan dermatologist’s unsanitary practices have exposed thousands of his patients to the possibility of infection. Dr. Robert Stokes, who had offices in Grand Rapids and Greenville, is...
W. Va.: 2 Cabell County Men Plead Guilty to Insurance Fraud
Nov 14 2007 // Two Cabell County, W. Va., men who were previously arrested on multiple felony charges including insurance fraud, third degree arson, conspiracy, and burning insured property, pleaded guilty on Oct. 30 in Wayne County...
La. Insurance Department Subpoenaed in Citizens Fraud Probe
Nov 14 2007 // Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon said his office received a subpoena for e-mails from Louisiana’s taxpayer-backed property insurance company and that his staff was working on its court challenge of the...
W. Va.: 2 Kanawha County Women Arrested on Insurance Fraud Charges
Nov 14 2007 // West Virginia Insurance Commission officials arrested two Kanawha County women on insurance fraud related charges. A State Trooper assigned to the Insurance Commission’s Fraud Unit in Charleston arrested Linda Jett...
Former Okla. Claims Manager Pleads Guilty to Fraud Charges
Nov 13 2007 // The former claims manager for an Oklahoma insurance company has pleaded guilty to five felony counts of grand larceny by fraud, according to state Attorney General Drew Edmondson. The charges against Rhonda K. Bonnewell...
N.Y. Escort Service Operator Facing Sentencing for Insurance Fraud
Nov 9 2007 // An escort service operator who used female associates to stage auto accidents and collect on insurance claims faces five to 10 years in prison following his guilty plea Oct. 29 on two counts of felony insurance fraud,...
Contractor Arrested on Katrina Fraud Charge in Miss.
Nov 8 2007 // A Massachusetts contractor has been arrested on a felony fraud charge related to Hurricane Katrina recovery on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Daryle Arthur Jager, 47, of Somerville, Mass., is accused of taking $7,000 from a...
Europ Assistance Launches Identity Theft Service in UK, Ireland
Nov 7 2007 // Europ Assistance has launched an ID Theft assistance service for its UK and Ireland based clients. The travel insurer, an independent division of Italy’s Generali Group, already covers “13 million customers of...
National Crime Bureau Offers Free VINCheck for Unrecovered Vehicles
Nov 7 2007 // The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), based in Des Plaines, Ill., recently announced that it has launched a free service to help protect the nation’s consumers. Over one million vehicles have been stolen...
Mo. Dept. Hosts Training Course on Insurance Fraud for Investigators
Nov 7 2007 // The Missouri Department of Insurance’s Consumer Affairs Division today announced it will host a training course for state and local government special investigators on Friday, Nov. 9 in Jefferson City at the Harry S....
Former Mich. Mayor Must Stand Trial for Arson, Fraud Charges
Nov 6 2007 // A Michigan judge has ruled that a former Saginaw mayor must stand trial on charges of arson and insurance fraud in the burning of her 1986 Mercedes-Benz. Saginaw County Circuit Judge William Crane ruled that Wilmer Jones...
