insurance fraud

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Investigators: Fake Bear Used in Insurance Stunt

California authorities say man dressed up as a bear to damage vehicles, collect payouts

(Newser) - If you're going to dress up like a bear to commit insurance fraud, at least dress up like a bear that actually exists in your state. Authorities in Southern California say four men overlooked that bit of common sense, among others, and now face charges of fraud and conspiracy,...

Cops: Guy Had His Legs Amputated in Insurance Scam

Taiwanese pair claimed cold temperatures caused frostbite requiring amputation; investigators say it was dry ice

(Newser) - An alleged plot between friends to collect a more than $1 million insurance payout failed, leaving the pair no better for having frozen one man's legs to the point of requiring amputation, prosecutors say. Indeed, the two Taiwanese college students, identified as Zhang and Liao, both 23, are now...

Investigators Think They've Solved Mystery of Buried Car
Investigators Think They've
Solved Mystery of Buried Car
in case you missed it
Nov 6, 2022 4:20 PM CST

Investigators Think They've Solved Mystery of Buried Car

Cops: Mercedes unearthed in Atherton, Calif., may have been part of insurance fraud scheme

(Newser) - Three decades ago, John Lew's 1991 Mercedes-Benz 500SL convertible was reported stolen to police in Palo Alto, California—a fact that may be the missing clue as to why the car was found buried last month on the property of a mansion in nearby Atherton. NBC News reports that...

Woman's Gruesome Scheme to Collect $1.2M Is a Big Fail

Slovenia's Julija Adlesic sentenced to 2 years in prison after cutting off own hand for insurance cash

(Newser) - A Slovenian woman who'd hoped to collect a $1.2 million insurance payout may want to rethink her methods next time. Sky News and the BBC report that 22-year-old Julija Adlesic was sentenced to two years behind bars after being found guilty by a Ljubljana court of insurance fraud....

Ex-NFL Player Staged a Hate Crime, Police Say

Edawn Coughman faces charges including insurance fraud

(Newser) - Edawn Coughman, a former NFL player, faces charges after police said he destroyed his business in a ploy to portray himself as the victim of a hate crime. After receiving a call that someone was wrecking the Create and Bake Restaurant and Coughman's Creamery outside Atlanta, police said they...

Why It's Really Hard to Fake Your Own Death
Here's How to Fake
Your Own Death
longform
Aug 31, 2019 3:00 PM CDT

Here's How to Fake Your Own Death

But be warned, 'pseudocide' is not easy

(Newser) - Faking your own death seems easy, right? Just ride a kayak off the coast of Mexico, swim away, and let authorities say you drowned. But Isabelle Kohn—whose family friend tried that very technique in 1996—explains in Mel Magazine that "pseudocide" gets a lot harder when insurance companies...

California Man Accused of Killing 2 Sons for Financial Gain

Autistic boys drowned off LA wharf; Ali Elmezayen is charged with murder

(Newser) - A California man who allegedly killed his two autistic sons for financial gain has been charged with murder—and prosecutors haven't ruled out seeking the death penalty. Prosecutors say Hawthorne resident Ali Elmezayen deliberately drove his car off a Los Angeles wharf in 2015, Fox reports. He emerged through...

Cops: She Set Her Price, Then Cut Off Own Hand

Slovenian woman allegedly stood to gain more than $835K

(Newser) - A woman in Slovenia claims she slipped and accidentally cut off her own hand while sawing branches off a tree. Police, however, say the 21-year-old chopped off her hand on purpose, thinking it would set her up for life. For police, the life and injury insurance taken out in advance...

Superintendent Who Took Sick Student to Doctor Resigns

Casey Smitherman was arrested for insurance fraud after helping the 15-year-old

(Newser) - An Indiana school superintendent who was arrested after using her insurance to get medical treatment and meds for a sick student has resigned. Elwood Community Schools Superintendent Casey Smitherman provided the IndyStar with a statement explaining her decision was fueled in part by the "negative attention" she and her...

The Fraud Might've Worked, If Not for the Camera

Prosecutors say video shows fake slip and fall in NJ

(Newser) - Alexander Goldinsky allegedly looked to see if anyone was watching before pouring ice cubes on the floor and "falling." According to prosecutors in New Jersey's Middlesex County, he failed to notice the surveillance camera watching his every move. Goldinsky, 57, is charged with insurance fraud and theft...

She'd Helped This Teen Before. This Time, the Cops Came

School superintendent charged with fraud after using health insurance to help sick student

(Newser) - An Indiana school superintendent who says she was worried about a sick student was hit with fraud charges after cops say she used her insurance to get medical treatment and meds for him. Per KTXL , court records say 48-year-old Casey Smitherman picked up the 15-year-old, who had a sore throat,...

Court: Man Put Clothes on Stand-In Corpse for Scam

Minnesota man accused of $2M fraud

(Newser) - A Minnesota man accused of faking his own death seven years ago to collect a $2 million life insurance policy arranged for a stand-in corpse to be dressed in his clothes in Moldova, according to a judge's detention order. Igor Vorotinov, 54, also planted his identification on the body...

Dad's Alleged Role in Kids' Deaths 'Shocks the Conscience'

Ali Elmezayen faces fraud charges given insufficient evidence of murder

(Newser) - What at first appeared to be a tragic accident is now labeled a "coldhearted scheme." Two children, ages 8 and 13, died on April 9, 2015, when the car their father was driving sped off a Los Angeles wharf and sank. Ali Elmezayen, whose window was open, quickly...

Murder-Suicide by Wife Foils Hubby's Fake Death

He reportedly hoped insurance money would pay for daughter's epilepsy treatment

(Newser) - Lesson learned: Tell your wife if you ever plan to fake your own death. A 34-year-old man who failed to do so turned up alive to find his wife had killed herself and their two young children, according to police in China. The man, identified only by the surname He,...

Guy Staged Dozens of Car Crashes in Fraud Scam

Mackenzy Noze sentenced to 4 years in prison

(Newser) - A Haitian man who federal prosecutors say was the ringleader of an auto insurance scam involving as many as 50 staged car crashes was sentenced Monday to four years in prison and ordered to pay $207,000 in restitution, the AP reports. Mackenzy Noze, 33, a legal permanent US resident...

Shady Treatment Centers Help Fuel Drug Addiction
Shady Treatment Centers
Help Fuel Drug Addiction
longform
May 14, 2017 4:21 PM CDT

Shady Treatment Centers Help Fuel Drug Addiction

Alison Flory was living in a so-called 'sober living' house until her fatal OD

(Newser) - The US is in the midst of a well-documented opioid epidemic, but less well-known is how some people are making money off it through shady treatment centers that bilk insurance companies and do little to help their actual clients. In a feature in the Christian Science Monitor , Jennifer Flory describes...

Charges: Man Intentionally Caused 22 Car Crashes

He collected $56K in insurance money over 6 years

(Newser) - A Utah man is facing multiple felony charges after allegedly getting into nearly two dozen car accidents on purpose in order to collect the insurance money, KSL reports. Navid Monjazeb is accused of causing 22 crashes in and around Salt Lake City between 2010 and 2015, collecting $56,000 in...

Man Drives $1M Bugatti Into Lagoon, Ends Up in Prison
Man Drives $1M Bugatti Into Lagoon, Ends Up in Prison
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Dec 20, 2015 5:00 PM CST

Man Drives $1M Bugatti Into Lagoon, Ends Up in Prison

Crash was less due to a 'low-flying pelican' than insurance fraud

(Newser) - A Texas man who may or may not have purchased a $1 million car for the express purpose of driving it into a lagoon was sentenced to more than a year in prison Tuesday, KTRE reports. According to the Houston Chronicle , Andy House—who owns a salvage yard for exotic...

Story Questions Carson's Close Ties to Felon

Health care fraud a no-no in Carson's eyes—except when it comes to his pal

(Newser) - "Next to my wife of 32 years, there is no one on this planet that I trust more than [Alfonso] Costa," Ben Carson said at a 2008 sentencing hearing for the man he calls his best friend. "We discovered that we were so much alike and shared...

Ice Bucket Video Could Get Cop 6 Years in Jail

Jaime Robison was on disability when she lifted 5-gallon pail

(Newser) - Like countless others, Jaime Robison found herself playing a part in last summer's Ice Bucket Challenge craze to raise money for ALS. In a video uploaded in July, the California police officer was filmed lifting a 5-gallon pail of ice water and dousing a fellow cop, the Los Angeles ...

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