Latest Fraud Headlines

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

North Carolina Man Accused of Faking $104K in Insurance Claims

Dec 27 2017 // A North Carolina man has been charged with four counts each of insurance fraud and obtaining property by false pretense, according to a statement from North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey.Jeffrey Neal Smith,...

California Division of Workers’ Comp Suspends 16 Medical Providers

Dec 22 2017 // The California Division of Workers’ Compensation has suspended 16 more medical providers from participating in the state’s workers’ comp system, bringing the total number of providers suspended this year...

Fighting Low Level Fraud is Fighting Big Time Fraud

Dec 20 2017 // I saw an article today in Insurance Journal that was interesting to me as an insurance professional in the great state of Florida. The article discussed a case on insurance fraud in Florida related to Hurricane...

Destruction of Expensive Toys Leads to Guilty Plea in Insurance Fraud Scheme

Dec 18 2017 // A Texas pilot in early December pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud and arson charges, associated with, among other things, intentionally crashing a plane in the Gulf of Mexico and destroying other expensive planes,...

Florida Disaster Fraud Team Investigation Leads to False Claim Arrest

Dec 15 2017 // A Florida man was arrested last month after he was caught lying to his insurance company in an attempt to file a false insurance claim for vehicle for damage allegedly caused by Hurricane Irma, according to a statement...

London Police Eye Criminal Charges Related to Grenfell Tower Disaster

Dec 14 2017 // London police are considering a variety of criminal charges related to the June fire at Grenfell Tower that killed 71 people.Police told an inquiry Monday [Dec. 11] that the possible charges include misconduct in public...

5 Sentenced in Ohio for Insurance Fraud

Dec 12 2017 // The Ohio Department of Insurance reported that five people were recently sentenced for insurance-related crimes following investigations by the department.In October, Shandell Thomas, of Cincinnati, was sentenced in court...

Guilty of Insurance Fraud, Illinois Chiropractor Gets 20-Month Prison Term

Dec 11 2017 // A suburban Chicago chiropractor has been sentenced to 20 months in prison for billing an insurance company more than $4 million for treatment that was unnecessary or never provided. Federal prosecutors said Thursday...

Texas Pilot Pleads Guilty to Insurance Fraud in Gulf of Mexico Crash

Dec 11 2017 // A Texas pilot who survived a 2012 Gulf of Mexico plane crash and used an iPad to record his time in the water acknowledges it was insurance-related fraud.Theodore Robert Wright III pleaded guilty on Dec. 7 in Tyler to...

FBI Keeping an Eye on Fraud in Northern California Fire Recovery

Dec 8 2017 // The FBI is joining efforts to prevent fraud related to Northern California wildfire recovery efforts.Nearly two dozen blazes ripped through the region in mid-October, destroying 8,800 structures and 245,000 acres of land....

Cyber Criminals Steal $64M of Bitcoin From Cryptocurrency Firm NiceHash

Dec 8 2017 // A Slovenian cryptocurrency mining marketplace, NiceHash, said it lost about $64 million worth of bitcoin in a hack of its payment system, the latest incident to highlight risks that uneven oversight and security pose to...

California Division of Workers’ Comp Suspends 21 Medical Providers for Fraud

Dec 5 2017 // The California Division of Workers’ Compensation has suspended 21 more medical providers from participating in the state’s workers’ compensation system, bringing the total number of providers suspended...

California Brothers Nabbed in Staged Auto Accident Ring Involving 20 Others

Dec 5 2017 // A two-year investigation has netted 22 suspects in an auto fraud ring in California that cost insurers hundreds of thousands of dollars.Brothers Angel Topete, 36, and Joshua Topete, 34, both of San Martin, Calif., were...

Family of 4 Indicted for $550K Insurance Fraud Scheme in West Virginia

Dec 4 2017 // A man, his ex-wife and two sons are accused of burning down two West Virginia homes and pocketing over $550,000 in insurance claims. Windel Lester, his ex-wife Georgetta Lester, and his sons Gregory A. Lester and James...

Miami Woman Arrested Over Fraudulent Insurance Claims, Attempt to Steal $178K

Dec 1 2017 // A Florida homeowner was arrested for insurance fraud and grand theft following her attempt to file a damage claim against a new insurance policy after already receiving a $60,000 insurance payout from her former insurance...

Cargill Accountant in New York Sentenced to Five Years for $3.1M Theft

Nov 30 2017 // An accountant who admitted to stealing $3.1 million from agribusiness giant Cargill, Inc. has been sentenced to five years in prison.Diane Backis was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Albany to mail fraud and filing a...

New York Logging Company Owner Sentenced to Prison for $83K Theft

Nov 30 2017 // The former owner of an upstate New York logging company who stole more than $80,000 in workers’ compensation benefits has been sentenced to up to three years in prison. Fifty-six-year-old David Sigl, of Auburn, N.Y.,...

Another Insurance Fraud Reminder

Nov 29 2017 // Two recent stories in Insurance Journal caught my eye and gave me this topic.Florida Puts Worker’s Comp Carrier Guarantee Insurance In Receivership Florida Keys Insurance Agent Accused of Defrauding Citizens...

Florida Keys Insurance Agent Accused of Defrauding Citizens Insurance

Nov 27 2017 // A Florida insurance agent has been arrested after allegedly submitting a fraudulent insurance policy to Citizens Property Insurance Corp., according to a statement from Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis and the Florida Department...

Slew of Republican Judicial Appointments Could Bode Well for D&O Insurers

Nov 27 2017 // Directors and officers (D&O) insurance has faced major losses in recent years, due in part, to what some call a significant increase in shareholder securities class action lawsuits. But a slew of new judicial...