Latest Fraud Headlines
All the headlines from our Fraud Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Candidates in Hotly Contested North Carolina Insurance Race Talk Scandal, Priorities
Nov 2 2020 // The race for the next North Carolina Insurance Commissioner features two familiar faces to state voters in what is a three-peat showdown featuring Republican Mike Causey and Democrat Wayne Goodwin. Causey, the incumbent,...
Ex-Police Chief in Washington Turned Pinup Model Charged with Workers’ Comp Fraud
Nov 2 2020 // A Snohomish County, Wash., woman faces two charges of making false or misleading statements to collect more than $67,000 in workers’ compensation benefits from the Washington State Department of Labor &...
California Street Racer Charged with Auto Insurance Fraud, Grand Theft
Oct 29 2020 // Michael Lynn Cooper, 55, of Ontario, Calif., was charged with multiple felony counts of insurance fraud and grand theft after allegedly misrepresenting the facts of a collision to his insurance company to receive a payout...
California Claims Adjuster and Chiropractor Arrested in $1.6M Operation
Oct 28 2020 // Claims adjuster, Agop Sarafian, 65, of La Crescenta, Calif., and chiropractor, Shahe Topjian, D.C. 65, of Granada Hills, Calif., were arrested on felony insurance fraud charges after allegedly conspiring to defraud...
Insurer Off the Hook in $200K Georgia House Fire Claim Due to Agent Premium Theft
Oct 27 2020 // A property insurer is off the hook for a $200,000 claim against a policy that it canceled, leaving a lawsuit filed against a former insurance agent who was arrested for pocketing premiums as the only apparent recourse...
North Carolina Agency Owner Sentenced to 5.5 Years for $400K Loan Scheme
Oct 22 2020 // A North Carolina insurance agent has been sentenced to 5.5 years in prison in federal court after being found guilty of orchestrating a $400,000 fraudulent loan scheme involving insurance premiums, according to the U.S....
California Trucking Firm Owners Charged in Alleged $450K Workers’ Comp Fraud
Oct 22 2020 // Trucking company owners Hardip Singh, 44, and Amandeep Kaur, 36, were charged this week with multiple counts of insurance fraud after allegedly misclassifying employees as independent contractors in a scheme to underreport...
Cryptocurrency Exchange Bitstamp Adds Lloyd’s-Backed Crime Insurance Policy
Oct 22 2020 // Bitstamp, a cryptocurrency exchange, has expanded the insurance offered to its customers with an additional crime insurance policy. The crime insurance policy is offered by specialist insurance brokers, Paragon...
After Helping Shepherd Pandemic Loans, Banks Now Brace for Regulatory Risks
Oct 21 2020 // Banks that facilitated the U.S. government’s Paycheck Protection Program at first saw the effort as a small revenue booster with a patriotic bonus, shepherding $525 billion in loans to businesses slammed by the...
Ex-Police Chief in Washington Turned Pinup Model Charged with Workers’ Comp Fraud
Oct 19 2020 // A Snohomish County, Wash., woman faces two charges of making false or misleading statements to collect more than $67,000 in workers’ compensation benefits from the Washington State Department of Labor &...
Louisianans Warned of Contractor Fraud Following Dual Hurricanes
Oct 16 2020 // Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon and State Representative Jonathan Goudeau are warning residents affected by Hurricanes Laura and Delta that both the Louisiana Department of Insurance and Rep. Goudeau’s...
Maryland Auto Insurance Launches New Auto Insurance Fraud Initiative
Oct 16 2020 // Maryland Auto Insurance has launched an initiative aimed at combatting auto insurance fraud in Maryland. This comes as the FBI projects insurance fraud accounts for more than $40 billion in costs annually, according to a...
Top 10 Stolen Vehicles; Ford Beats Honda
Oct 15 2020 // Car thieves have a new favorite target: the Ford full-size pickup. According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau’s latest “Hot Wheels” report, which includes crime data from across the country, Ford...
Berkshire Hathaway Sues Law Firm It Says Aided $756 Million M&A Fraud
Oct 15 2020 // A unit of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. claims a top international law firm helped German piping component maker Wilhelm Schulz GmbH fraudulently conceal its disastrous finances before its 2017 acquisition...
California Insurance Agent, Unlicensed Employee Arraigned for Alleged Fraud
Oct 13 2020 // Insurance agent Brenda Cervantes, 31, of Oxnard, Calif., and unlicensed employee Edith Arellano-Quinones, 39, of Ojai, were arraigned on Tuesday on misdemeanor counts of insurance fraud after allegedly selling auto...
Ohio Man Owes $141.5K After Second Workers’ Comp Fraud Conviction
Oct 13 2020 // An Ohio man who pleaded guilty on Oct. 5 to workers’ compensation fraud charges has been ordered to repay $141,578 in restitution and spend six months in jail, the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC)...
Washington Meter Reader Who Got $186K Accused of Stealing Workers’ Comp Money
Oct 12 2020 // A meter reader who was attacked by a dog while on duty and collected years of workers’ compensation is now accused of stealing the money, the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries said. Linda Jordan of...
Florida Construction Owner Accused of Not Paying $95K in Workers’ Comp Premiums
Oct 9 2020 // A construction company owner was arrested last month for workers’ compensation premium fraud after allegedly concealing payroll information to avoid paying more than $95,000 in workers’ compensation...
6 Stolen Vintage Vehicles Recovered in Minnesota
Oct 7 2020 // St. Paul, Minn., police said they have recovered six collector cars stolen from a body shop and are searching for suspects. The vintage vehicles were found abandoned in a wooded area of Woodbury, St. Paul police spokesman...
Remote Work: Protecting Against Employee Crime
Oct 5 2020 // The business landscape has changed drastically over the past several months as the world has struggled to combat and adapt to a global health crisis. Many organizations successfully pivoted their workforce to remote work,...
