Latest Fraud Headlines
All the headlines from our Fraud Topic Page, ordered by recency.
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...
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...
