Court Upholds Mississippi Man’s 37-Month Sentence for Insurance Fraud

A federal appeals court has upheld the 37-month sentence handed to a Mississippi man convicted of defrauding a Memphis insurance company.

The Commercial Appeals reported that a three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Memphis upheld Robert Rainey’s conviction this week.

Robert Rainey argued his sentence was too harsh and would not be a deterrent to other white-collar criminals.

The 6th Circuit panel upheld the sentence. It said U.S. District Judge Jon McCalla considered the repetitive nature of the theft, protection of the public and the need for vocational training

Robert Rainey and his wife, Elizabeth, both of Southaven, Miss., were sentenced earlier this year on charges stemming from a scam involving insurance checks totaling nearly $700,000. Elizabeth Rainey was sentenced to four years.

They admitted to siphoning money from her employer, Direct General Insurance Corp. of Memphis, by creating fraudulent checks on insurance claims. Prosecutors say Elizabeth Rainey was a claims adjustor at Direct General whose job was to issue claims checks for legitimate claims.

Prosecutors say Elizabeth Rainey and another employee wrote bogus checks to friends and relatives purporting to be claims for legitimate customers. Robert Rainey received 224 of the bogus checks.