SC Man Sentenced for Targeting Drivers in Parking Lot Insurance Fraud Scheme

A 44-year-old South Carolina man was sentenced to 18 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to an auto insurance fraud scheme that targeted elderly drivers in parking lots.

In 2020 through 2022, Cornelius Jones, 44, of Lake City, would drive into or walk into cars as they backed out of parking spots in the Florence area, the South Carolina Department of Insurance said in a bulletin this week. Jones targeted at least 15 drivers. He would scratch his own vehicle or pretend to be injured, and collected more than $14,000 in insurance payments.

He also caused another $1,770 in damage to the victims’ vehicles, the DOI statement said.

A judge ordered Jones to pay $15,983 in restitution and face at least three years of probation after his release from prison.

The department did not explain what led to the arrest of the man. He turned himself in to police in 2021 but apparently went missing after that while continuing his scheme, according to a police posting on Facebook. Jones was later apprehended and pleaded guilty.

The case was investigated by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), the Florence Police Department and the Florence County Sheriff’s Office. Jone was prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorney General Jason Allen of the Insurance Fraud Division of the South Carolina Department of Insurance.