A federal jury ruled last month that former commodities firm executive Marc E. Thompson set his home ablaze and burned his elderly mother alive to collect insurance money that he later hid during bankruptcy proceedings, reported the Chicago Tribune.
Thompson, 53, faces 115 years in prison on money laundering and fraud charges stemming from the $600,000 home insurance payoff he collected from the arson, the jury found.
Thompson later set up a shell corporation in Mauritius, an island nation in the Indian Ocean, to launder $400,000 he sent to an offshore bank account, prosecutors charged.
He killed his mother, 90-year-old Carmen Thompson, “because she was an alibi,” Special Assistant U.S. Atty. Pat Layng, told the Chicago Tribune. “She could be blamed for the arson.”
Carmen Thompson’s Aug. 11, 2002, death by carbon monoxide poisoning and smoke inhalation was initially ruled a suicide. She died in the basement of her son’s home in the 3700 block of North Paulina Street, where lacquer thinner was poured along a wall as a fire starter, authorities said.
U.S. authorities did not have jurisdiction to bring murder and arson charges in the case.
Illinois Agent Sells Bogus Circus Coverage
Insurance regulators in Kentucky and Nebraska are investigating an Illinois-based insurance company for allegedly defrauding amusement industry operators in Kentucky and Nebraska.
Richard A. Brooks & Associates Ltd., an insurance company operated by River Forest, Ill., resident Richard Brooks, allegedly sold bogus insurance policies indicating coverage from Lloyd’s of London to carnival and circus vendors, regulators reported.
An inspector with the Kentucky Department of Agriculture received a certificate indicating coverage at Lloyd’s of London through Richard Brooks and Associates, during the routine inspection of an amusement company. But Lloyd’s denied the certificate was authentic, and further investigation revealed that Brooks is not a licensed insurance agent, agency or insurer.
Illinois officials are cooperating with federal authorities in the investigation of Brooks, said Susan Hofer, a spokeswoman with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation Insurance Division.
Hofer said the department is aware of complaints against Brooks, but declined to elaborate due to the federal investigation.
Ohio Agent Appeals Fraud Suspension
An Ohio insurance agent has appealed a five-year license suspension from the Ohio Department of Insurance for issuing fraudulent certificates to physicians who contracted for medical malpractice coverage.
John Westhoven filed a lawsuit in Lucas County Common Pleas Court against the state agency, claiming the disciplinary action was unconstitutional, unreasonable, arbitrary, contrary to law, and not supported by evidence presented during a hearing.
Westhoven, 47, was accused of writing policies for professional medical liability insurance to three doctors in May 2002, and November 2002, but failing to obtain the actual coverage, leaving the doctors without insurance.
In a decision released Aug. 10, Ann Womer Benjamin, superintendent of the agency, suspended Westhoven’s license because it was an “intentional act with the potential for significant harm to the physicians and their patients.”
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