Latest Fraud Headlines
All the headlines from our Fraud Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Delaware Decriminalizes ‘Personal Use’ Marijuana Possession
Dec 21 2015 // Delaware has officially decriminalized possession by adults of small amounts of marijuana. A decriminalization law signed in June by Delaware Gov. Jack Markell took effect Dec. 18. The law makes possession by an adult of a...
Flood, Fraud & the Florida Market: McCarty Talks Hot Insurance Topics in 2015
Dec 21 2015 // It was another busy year for the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR). From conducting the annual property/casualty data call and subsequent stress test of Florida property insurers, to working on the depopulation...
Southern California Man Arrested for Fraud After Crashing BMW in Race
Dec 21 2015 // After Andres Hernandez, 36, of Lakewood, Calif., totaled his BMW while racing, he then allegedly then provided false statements to his insurer about the location of the collision. He was paid $64,860 for the claim, and was...
Ohio AG: Identity Theft Complaints in Ohio Up over 2014
Dec 18 2015 // Identity theft complaints in Ohio have already surpassed the number received last year by about 300, according to the state attorney general’s office. Kate Hanson, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Mike DeWine, said...
Man Who Drove Bugatti into Gulf Going to Prison for Insurance Fraud
Dec 18 2015 // An exotic car salvage yard owner in Lufkin, Texas, has been sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison after pleading guilty to insurance fraud. The Houston Chronicle reports that in November 2009, Andy House drove...
Georgia Agency Owner Accused of 10 Counts of Insurance Fraud
Dec 17 2015 // Georgia Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens’ announced the arrest of insurance agent Macie Anedra Yawn, 27, of Cochran, Ga. Yawn owned and operated Charles Robinson Insurance Agency in Eastman and is accused of...
Feds Investigating Potential Crop Insurance Fraud in Kentucky
Dec 17 2015 // Federal investigators say they believe Central Kentucky tobacco farmers, crop insurance agents, tobacco warehouse owners and others conspired to defraud thousands and possibly millions of dollars from the U.S. Department...
N.C. Insurance Commissioner Candidate Faced Now-Dismissed Fraud Charges
Dec 15 2015 // A candidate running for North Carolina insurance commissioner was the subject of a fraud investigation by the current commissioner’s office that led to criminal charges that were ultimately dismissed. Republican...
Southern California Man Arrested for Fraud After Crashing BMW in Race
Dec 14 2015 // Andres Hernandez, 36, of Lakewood, Calif., allegedly totaled his BMW while racing and then provided false statements to his insurer about the location of the collision. He was paid $64,860 for the claim, and was...
Former Insurance Exec Gets 37 Years for $100M Premium Fraud in Maryland
Dec 13 2015 // A Maryland businessman who prosecutors say stole more than $100 million in insurance premiums to live a life of luxury has been sentenced to 37 years in prison. Forty-year-old Jeffrey Brian Cohen of Reisterstown, Maryland,...
Iu Named Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor in New Jersey
Dec 10 2015 // Christopher Iu New Jersey’s Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced the appointment of Christopher Iu to be the state’s acting insurance fraud prosecutor. Iu succeeds Ron Chillemi who is joining law...
Texas Safety Officials: Nearly 16K Vehicles Stolen in December 2014
Dec 9 2015 // The Texas Department of Public Safety says the potential for vehicle thefts is high in December. The DPS reported that 5,717 automobiles, pickups and motorcycles were recorded stolen in December 2014, making it one of the...
Insurance Fraudster Heads Back to Jail for Violating Release Terms in Conn.
Dec 8 2015 // Insurance swindler and former international fugitive Martin Frankel has been sentenced to six months in prison for violating the terms of his release. Prosecutors say a federal judge in New Haven, Connecticut, sentenced...
Judge Suspends Lawsuit Against U. of Oklahoma over Stolen Nazi Art
Dec 8 2015 // A federal judge has suspended activity in a lawsuit that challenges the ownership of a painting that hangs at a University of Oklahoma art gallery as negotiations continue with a French woman who claims the artwork was...
New Credit Card Chips Shift Liability to Retailers
Dec 7 2015 // On Oct. 1, 2015, many of the insurance industry’s clients took on a lot more risk, and may not even know it. The Payment Card Industry, PCI, which is the self-regulating organization that oversees everyone that...
North Carolina Man Charged with Insurance Fraud Over Stolen Boat Claim
Dec 1 2015 // North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin announced the arrest of William Nathan Spaulding, 38, of Lake Waccamaw; he is charged with one count each of insurance fraud, obtaining property by false pretense and...
5 Charged in $580M Southern California Scheme Involving Workers’ Comp
Nov 30 2015 // Five people, including a former hospital executive and two surgeons, are charged with a massive kickback scheme that resulted in billing $580 million to the government and insurance companies, authorities announced. Two...
GM Does Not Have to Turn Over Privileged Ignition Switch Documents: Judge
Nov 30 2015 // General Motors Co. and its law firm need not turn over privileged documents to drivers hoping to show that the automaker intended to commit a crime or fraud by concealing defective ignition switches in their vehicles, a...
Former Texas Agent Pleads Guilty to Fraud, Faces 20 Years in Prison
Nov 30 2015 // A 64-year-old former Texas insurance agent has pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering, federal prosecutors say, and faces up to 20 years in prison for what amounted to a Ponzi scheme. U.S. Attorney John M. Bales...
3 Earn Award for Combating Auto Insurance Fraud in Massachusetts
Nov 24 2015 // Two police officers and a prosecutor who work in the Northwestern District Attorney’s office in Northampton, Massachusetts, have earned a national award for combating auto insurance fraud. Det. Lt. John Cummings,...
