Latest Fraud Headlines

All the headlines from our Fraud Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Former California Insurance Agent Sentenced for Stealing $220K from Clients Including Late Art Dealer

May 19 2023 // John Philip Ryan, 64, of Yucca Valley, California, was sentenced and ordered to pay more than $220,000 in restitution to victims after pleading guilty to two felony counts of financial elder abuse and grand theft of...

Fraudulent Filings in Massachusetts Could Be Distorting U.S. Jobless Claims Reports

May 18 2023 // Fraudulent filings for state unemployment insurance aid in Massachusetts could be distorting U.S. weekly unemployment claims data, economists warned on Wednesday, making it harder to get a clear picture of the labor market...

Catalytic Theft Claims Triple in Two Years, Crime Bureau Report Finds

May 12 2023 // Insurance claims for catalytic converter thefts nationwide jumped by 288% in just two years, the National Insurance Crime Bureau said in a new report.Claims rose from 16,660 in 2020 to 64,701 in 2022. Half of the thefts...

Ex-Mississippi Governor Wants Apology for News Outlets’ Welfare Fraud Comments

May 12 2023 // Former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant gave notice Wednesday that he will sue a news organization unless it apologizes for statements he said some of its employees made about him in connection to misspending of welfare money...

Michigan Attorney General Charges 6 With Criminal Enterprise Targeting Accident Victims

May 12 2023 // Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Director Anita Fox from the Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) announced a criminal enterprise and related charges against. six individuals who are accused of...

Hyundai and Kia Thefts Keep Rising Despite Security Fix

May 10 2023 // Nearly three months ago, Hyundai and Kia unveiled software that was designed to thwart an epidemic of thefts of their vehicles, caused by a security flaw that was exposed on TikTok and other social media sites.So far, it...

Accountant Charged With $10 Million in Construction Workers’ Compensation Fraud

May 9 2023 // Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Jr. announced two indictments of a certified public accountant for defrauding the New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF) of more than $10 million in workers’ compensation...

Mechanic Charged with Criminally Negligent Homicide in Fatal NYC Elevator Plunge

May 5 2023 // An elevator mechanic’s failure to execute basic safety procedures caused an elevator at a New York City building to plunge six stories and crush a co-worker to death, prosecutors said Tuesday.Mechanic Peter Milatz,...

California Family Members Arraigned in $2.1M Insurance Fraud Schemes

May 4 2023 // Four Merced, California, family members were arraigned this week for multiple counts of insurance fraud after a California Department of Insurance investigation revealed the businesses owned and operated by the residents...

Massachusetts Man Sentenced in Luxury Car Insurance Fraud Scheme

May 3 2023 // A Holbrook, Massachusetts man has been found guilty and sentenced to two and a half years in the Norfolk House of Correction for damaging luxury cars bought under false pretenses in order to collect insurance...

Manhattan DA Brings Charges in Alleged Affordable Housing Construction Fraud

May 3 2023 // Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. announced indictments charging eight individuals and six companies with fraud and corruption within the construction industry, including conspiring to fraudulently use...

UK to Ban Cold Calls Selling Insurance and Crypto to Clamp Down on Fraud

May 3 2023 // The UK is to set to ban cold calls that sell financial products including insurance and cryptocurrencies in an effort to crack down on fraud, which costs the country around £7 billion ($8.7 billion) a year.Announcing its...

New Jersey Man Pleads Not Guilty to Multistate Car Theft and Resale Scheme

May 3 2023 // A former Bergen County, New Jersey man has been charged with running a large, multistate car theft and fraud ring.U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger reported that Warren Guerrier, formerly of Hackensack, New Jersey, pleaded...

Ex-CFO Gets 3 Years Prison for Stealing From SPACs to Trade Meme Stocks, Crypto

May 1 2023 // A former chief financial officer of multiple special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) was sentenced to three years in prison for embezzling more than $5 million from them, and losing almost all of it trading meme...

Georgia Sheriff’s Chief of Staff Charged with Insurance Fraud in ‘Hit-and-Run’ Claim

May 1 2023 // The chief of staff for an Atlanta-area sheriff has been charged with insurance fraud after an investigation found that he had lied about the circumstances of an accident.Braxton Tyree Cotton, 41, a major in the Cobb County...

Court Reinstates Criminal Charges Against Veterans’ Home Officials Over COVID Policies

May 1 2023 // Massachusetts’ highest court overruled a lower court judge Thursday and reinstated criminal neglect charges against two top former officials at a veterans’ home. Nearly 80 veterans died at the Veterans’...

Louisiana Lawmakers Kill Bill to Decriminalize Marijuana

Apr 27 2023 // BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) – A bill to decriminalize marijuana in Louisiana was short- lived, swiftly dying in committee Tuesday before ever reaching the House floor for debate this legislative session.Democratic state...

New York Lawyers, Doctor Sentenced in $31 Million Trip-and-Fall Insurance Fraud

Apr 27 2023 // A New York surgeon and two lawyers are the latest professionals to be sentenced for their roles in a massive massive trip-and-fall fraud scheme between 2013 and 2018 that exploited some of the most vulnerable citizens of...

Thefts Prompt 17 States to Urge Recall of Kia, Hyundai Cars

Apr 24 2023 // Attorneys general in 17 states on Thursday urged the federal government to recall millions of Kia and Hyundai cars because they are too easy to steal, a response to a sharp increase in thefts fueled by a viral social media...

Iowa Man, Woman Sentenced for Insurance Fraud Scheme

Apr 21 2023 // Following an investigation by the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau, a Jasper County man and woman have pled guilty to insurance fraud.Jarod Hirbar, age 44, of Kellogg, pled guilty on April 17, 2023, to one...