Latest Fraud Headlines
All the headlines from our Fraud Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Embattled Tennessee Insurance Agent Fined $23K by State Regulator
Jan 29 2020 // A former Tennessee insurance agent facing more than 70 counts of insurance fraud has reached a settlement with the Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance (TDCI) barring her from practicing insurance activities in...
2 Arrested in $20M Workers’ Comp Fraud And Kickback Scheme
Jan 28 2020 // A pair of California men have been charged with multiple felonies in a reported $20 million kickback scheme involving worker’s compensation. Bradley Dean Groscost, 59, of Westminster, and Felix Koltsov, 57, of...
Georgia Insurance Dept. Touts 2019 Work for Consumers, Agents
Jan 28 2020 // The Georgia Department of Insurance’s multiple enforcement divisions worked on behalf of insurance consumers to combat fraud, return insurance premiums, and approve insurance licenses in 2019, according to a...
Florida Man Accused of Making Fraudulent Hurricane Irma Claims
Jan 27 2020 // A Florida man has been accused of lying about damage caused by Hurricane Irma, federal prosecutors announced this week. An indictment was returned charging Deontre Javan Taylor, 26, of Jacksonville, with disaster...
Rhode Island Construction Manager Pleads Guilty to Stealing $200K
Jan 27 2020 // A former construction project manager for a real estate development company has pleaded guilty to defrauding banks, construction companies and his employer out of more than $200,000, federal prosecutors say. Gregory...
Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office Charges Insurance Adjuster in $722K Theft
Jan 24 2020 // The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office (DAO) has charged insurance adjuster Michael R. Shelly with insurance fraud, forgery, theft by deception and theft by failure to make required disposition of funds for...
California Man Arrested for Insurance Fraud on Top of an Apparently Legit $1M Claim
Jan 22 2020 // A California man is being charged with attempting to defraud his insurer of $43,000 while his $1 million property claim from one of the massive wildfires that struck the state in 2018 appears to be legitimate. Stephen...
Former Iowa Agent Sentenced to Federal Prison for Fraud
Jan 22 2020 // A Muscatine, Iowa, insurance agent has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for wire and mail fraud. Federal prosecutors for Iowa said that Ashley Erin Murphy Schneider, 37, was sentenced Thursday in...
Feds Charge 2 Florida Women with Hurricane Irma Disaster Assistance Fraud
Jan 21 2020 // Two Florida women have been accused of lying about damage caused by Hurricane Irma in separate cases, federal prosecutors announced last week. Indictments were returned charging Bernita Willette Carswell, 36, of...
Texas Mutual: Massachusetts Firm Pleads Guilty to Workers’ Comp Fraud
Jan 21 2020 // A Massachusetts company has pleaded guilty in a Travis County, Texas, district court to workers’ compensation fraud, according to Texas Mutual Insurance Co. Texas Mutual says EME International Inc. (EME) of...
Ex-Church Administrator in Pennsylvania Gets 10 to 20 Years in Theft Case
Jan 21 2020 // A former western Pennsylvania church administrator has been sentenced to 10 to 20 years in the theft of $1.2 million that prosecutors said he and his wife used for vacations, sports tickets and other personal expenses. An...
Alabama Police Say ‘Batman’ Bandit Stealing from Churches
Jan 16 2020 // Police in Alabama are looking for a man who disguised himself as Batman while stealing musical instruments from churches. A burglary happened on Dec. 11 at King’s Way Church in Irondale, AL.Com reported. The caped...
Washington Mom, Son Charged in Attempted Auto Insurance Fraud
Jan 14 2020 // Three people were charged in King County Superior Court in connection to two separate auto insurance fraud cases after investigations by Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler’s Criminal Investigations...
California Agent Sentenced for Stealing $174K in Premiums from Truck Drivers
Jan 10 2020 // Connie Free, 34, of Moreno Valley, Calif., was sentenced this week to 22 felony counts and one misdemeanor count including grand theft and forgery after reportedly stealing at least $174,000 in insurance premiums from 11...
Travelex Ransomware Attack Part of Growing Trend in Cyber Crime: CyberCube
Jan 9 2020 // The ransomware attack against U.K. foreign exchange firm Travelex is just a taste of what’s to come with cyber crime, according to experts at CyberCube, the cyber risk analytics firm. Travelex announced this week...
Oklahoma Couple Charged with $313K Home Repair Fraud
Jan 7 2020 // An Oklahoma couple has been accused of home repair fraud and embezzlement, where they took more than $313,000 from 10 victims, the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office reported. In a 10-count felony indictment, Bobby...
Weinstein Criminal Trial on Rape Charge to Open 2 Years After #MeToo Movement Started
Jan 5 2020 // More than two years and a lifetime ago, Hollywood’s open secrets about Harvey Weinstein finally spilled into public view. Few back then could have predicted all that would follow or where the #MeToo movement would...
Most Common Workers’ Compensation Medical Provider Fraud Schemes
Dec 31 2019 // While most insurance claims are legitimate, studies indicate that 10% or more of all property/casualty insurance claims are fraudulent. In the workers’ compensation industry, combatting fraud can seem like a game of...
Kentucky Farmer Pleads Guilty in Tobacco Crop Insurance Fraud Scheme
Dec 31 2019 // Another Central Kentucky farmer has pleaded guilty in a crop insurance fraud scheme that a federal prosecutor has called “pervasive and severe” in that region. Daniel Arvin pleaded guilty on Dec. 19 in federal...
Texas Insurance Regulators: New Year’s Day Is No. 1 Holiday for Vehicle Thefts
Dec 30 2019 // The Texas Department of Insurance is urging vehicle owners to lock their car doors and turn on alarms while they ring in the new year in order to prevent auto thefts. TDI said in a media release that a report issued in...
