Seven felony arrests in the Los Angeles and Riverside County areas were the result of an eight-month joint investigation conducted by investigators from the California Department of Insurance (CDI) Criminal Investigations Branch’s Fraud Division, the California Highway Patrol and the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB). Additional suspects are still being sought in the investigation.
Turhan Folse and six other suspects were arrested and booked into the Los Angeles County Inmate Reception Center. Investigators believe Folse, 54, aka Turhan Quinlan, aka John Singleton, allegedly formed a fraudulent insurance scam ring by creating auto accidents and increasing damage to vehicles involved in accidents. Not licensed to practice law in the state, Folse allegedly misled insurance companies by pretending to be an attorney for a law practice called Westcoast Litigation.
One feature of his alleged scam was to stage auto accidents and have medical professionals produce false medical reports alleging injuries. Folse also dealt with real collisions referred to him through friends or relatives. From those actual collisions, he allegedly enhanced property damages to vehicles so he could legitimize fabricated medical reports.
Investigators believe Folse’s fraudulent activity was created to settle claims in order to reach the policies’ highest dollar limits. Folse is alleged to have been involved in this kind of activity for nearly two decades.
Six of the alleged fraudulent claims filed involved supposed treatment of jaw-related injuries by Dr. Michael Luther, DDS, 58, who also was arrested for allegedly taking part in the fraud scam.
The total settlement handed out on these jaw-related claims was over $126,000. Those claims remaining involved the alleged treatment of soft tissue injuries, which amounted to a settlement of $241,000.
Arrested along with Folse and Luther, were Milton Ross Ware, aka Milton Ross Preston, Carmen Marie Herrera, Massai Dorsey, Anne Elise Wasserkrug and Johnny Thorpe.
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