N.C. Authorities Announce Arrests for Alleged Insurance Fraud Schemes
North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin this week announced the arrest of Shacoria Vontravia Crawford, 24, of Charlotte, N.C. She is charged with one count each of insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and making a false report to a police station, and two counts of misdemeanor child abuse.
On July 8, Crawford and another Charlotte resident, Kaleena Lavonda Moore, reported a traffic accident with no injuries to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
Both drivers later filed insurance claims with Universal Insurance Company for injuries to the children that were allegedly in their vehicles, and Moore filed a claim for damage to her vehicle.
Department of Insurance criminal investigators accuse Crawford and Moore of intentionally causing their vehicles to collide multiple times to create visible damage in an attempt to fraudulently obtain insurance payments.
Crawford was arrested on Aug. 23 by the N.C. State Highway Patrol during an unrelated traffic stop; she was placed under a $13,500 secured bond in Mecklenburg County.
Investigators are still seeking Kaleena Lavonda Moore on multiple charges associated with the investigation.
Separately, Commissioner Goodwin also announced this week the arrest of Matthew Scott Cameron, 42, of Shallotte, N.C. He is charged with four counts of insurance fraud, three counts of obtaining property by false pretense, and one count of attempting to obtain property by false pretense.
Criminal investigators allege that Cameron filed fraudulent short term disability claims with AFLAC Insurance Company between January and May 2011 for which he received $6,320 in benefits to which he was not entitled.
Cameron was arrested on Aug. 27 with the assistance of parole officers from the North Carolina Department of Correction Division of Community Corrections and held at the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office Detention Facility under a $10,000 secured bond.
The Department of Insurance employs 20 sworn state law enforcement officers dedicated to investigating and prosecuting claims of insurance and bail bonding fraud. Since Commissioner Goodwin took office in 2009, criminal investigators have received more than 14,000 complaints, resulting in 602 arrests, 333 criminal convictions and more than 110 pending court cases.
These efforts have delivered more than $48.5 million in restitution and recoveries for victims.
Regulators estimate that 10 cents of every dollar paid in premiums goes toward the payment of fraudulent claims.