More ‘Missing’ Rolexes Turn Up; Owner Charged with Fraud

North Carolina authorities announced Monday that a Raleigh man has been charged with falsely claiming that two Rolex watches had been stolen, an apparent ruse to gain insurance payments.

James Henry Weeks III, 47, was charged with insurance fraud and attempting to obtain property by false pretenses. Special agents with the North Carolina Department of Insurance said Weeks had attempted to obtain $8,900 from United Property & Casualty by falsely reporting that the watches had been stolen.

Weeks was released on $5,000 bond. Details about the scheme were not provided by the department.

“Insurance fraud hurts consumers,” Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey said in a news release. “Approximately 20% of your insurance premium goes to cover the cost of fraud.”

The case is strikingly similar to that of a Seattle man who was charged this month with filing a false insurance claim for a $14,750 Rolex watch he said he lost while wakeboarding. Investigators with USAA Insurance found that the man had sold his watch to a rare-coins dealer in 2020, three weeks after he filed the insurance claim.