Arrest - InsuranceFraud.org

On Thursday, December 15, a North Texan pair was charged with submitting fraudulent COVID-19 testing claims to multiple insurance agencies, as announced in an official statement by U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton. According to court documents, the duo managed to allegedly get over $7 million in the scheme.

Terrance Bernard, 39 and Connie Jo Clampitt, 51 were indicted on Dec. 5 on charges of committing healthcare fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The defendants allegedly set up a scheme where Bernard would take advantage of his position as a contract lab technician in several medical clinics to gather patients’ personal information including names, addresses, dates of birth and most importantly for the scheme, insurance subscriber information. Once the information was collected, Clampitt would allegedly inform the patients’ insurers that they had COVID-19 testing performed at sophisticated diagnostic labs which resulted to be nonexistent, as were the testings.

Once the pair allegedly received the fraudulently-obtained reimbursement checks, they deposited them in bank accounts they opened for the fake laboratories, to later transfer the proceeds into personal accounts. The indictment alleges they later used the money to purchase real estate and luxury vehicles.

“Since the start of this pandemic, the Justice Department has seized over $1.2 billion in relief funds that criminals were attempting to steal, and charged over 1,500 defendants with crimes in federal districts across the country,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement.

According to the Department of Justice, pandemic-related fraud has been so rampant it made the establishment of COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force Teams comprised of prosecutors and agents from the Department of Labor Office, the Small Business Administration Office, the Department of Homeland Security Office, the FBI, the U.S. Secret Service, Homeland Security Investigations, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has presented the most challenging circumstances our healthcare providers and insurers have faced in generations,” said U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton. “Schemes to financially exploit the system when providers and insurers are facing these monumental challenges must be dismantled, and those responsible must be held to account.”

After being arrested last Thursday, the defendants made their initial appearances Friday morning and pleaded not guilty to all charges.

If convicted, the pair faces up to ten years in federal prison for each count of healthcare fraud, conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and up to two years in federal prison for each count of aggravated identity theft.

An Orange County man is facing federal bank fraud charges after investigators say he orchestrated one of the largest individual financial frauds recently seen in Southern California.

Mahender Makhijani, 44, of Corona del Mar, was arrested on a federal criminal complaint alleging he defrauded a federally insured bank out of nearly $100 million by falsifying title insurance policies and manipulating lien positions on real estate‑backed loans.

Federal prosecutors say Makhijani controlled Newport Beach‑based Cantor Group V LLC, which had a lending relationship with Bank #1. Under the agreement, the bank advanced nearly $100 million for Cantor to originate or purchase loans secured by real estate. Cantor was required to pledge only loans backed by first‑lien collateral, ensuring the bank would be first in line to foreclose if borrowers defaulted. Instead, investigators allege Makhijani falsified title insurance policies between September 2024 and April 2025 to make it appear Cantor held first‑lien positions when other creditors actually had priority.

According to the affidavit, Makhijani or a subordinate edited legitimate title policies using Adobe software, removed or altered metadata, and in some cases printed and rescanned documents to obscure tampering. He then directed an employee to submit the falsified policies to the bank and participated in teleconferences where he allegedly lied about discrepancies the bank identified. In December 2024, he submitted a spreadsheet containing false explanations for the title issues. The bank relied on these misrepresentations when making lending decisions. Had it known the true lien positions, prosecutors say the bank would have declared Cantor in default and demanded immediate repayment of the full amount.

Additional Details Reported by Other Media
Other outlets report that the alleged fraud may have touched multiple lenders, including Western Alliance Bank, Zions Bancorp, and Preferred Bank, suggesting broader exposure across the financial sector. Media coverage also notes that Makhijani was ordered by an arbitrator to pay $1.34 billion to Laguna Beach real estate investor Mohammad Honarkar in a separate civil fraud case—an indicator of the scale of financial misconduct under scrutiny.

A federal judge recently denied Makhijani bail, citing flight‑risk concerns, alleged threats against a witness, and evidence that associates lied about the source of funds used for his previous bail bond. Court filings also state he is a dual citizen of India and owns property abroad.

What This Means for Orange County Businesses and Lenders
Banks and credit unions may tighten due‑diligence requirements for real estate‑backed loans.
Title companies could increase verification protocols for metadata and document authenticity.
Real estate investors may face heightened scrutiny when pledging collateral or structuring multi‑lien transactions.
Consumers and small businesses could see slower loan processing times as lenders adopt more conservative risk‑management practices.

A 12-year search for one of the FBI’s most-wanted fugitives has finally come to an end after the killer was found working as a yoga teacher in sunny Mexico.

Jorge Rueda Landeros, now known as León Ferrara, was seized earlier this month in Mexico’s western city of Guadalajara.

Landeros is suspected of being responsible for a murder from more than a decade ago.

In 2010, American University professor Sue Marcum, 52, was found dead at the bottom of her basement staircase of her new home in Bethesda, Maryland.

Blunt force trauma and asphyxiation were listed as Ms Marcum’s cause of death, investigators confirmed at the time.

Cops later found the DNA from under her nails and the crime scene belonged to Landeros, FBI reports have claimed.

Detectives also discovered a life insurance policy totalling $500,000 (£415,000) with Landeros listed as the beneficiary.

The lecturer had become fascinated with him after the pair became yoga buddies and Landeros taught her Spanish.

The pair couldn’t be romantically linked, reports say.

He now faces charges of first-degree murder and unlawful flight.

After the 2010 killing, cops tipped Landeros as the prime suspect but he couldn’t be found.

But the murder didn’t deter Landeros from continuing with the eastern meditative practice, with him setting up a popular studio and teaching a loyal group of students when he arrived in Mexico.

In an interview with Spanish outlet El Pais while he was locked up, Landeros denied any involvement in Ms Marcum’s killing.

He said: “I am innocent… not of everything, obviously, but of what I’m being accused of.

“Once I disappeared from the radar, I completely forgot about the investigation.

“I still have difficulty responding to the name Jorge – I hardly have any of him inside of me anymore.”

Landeros – who is a dual US and Mexican citizen – is thought to be awaiting extradition to the US.

His arrest has stunned his yoga students, El Pais reports.

Maria, a yoga student, said she reported Landeros missing after he failed to show up for their class.

She said: “When I filed the report, the cops said ‘your friend isn’t missing, he’s in custody and has an Interpol file… We can’t tell you more’.

“I feel like I’m grieving, I know León, but I don’t know who Jorge is.

“If I ever have the opportunity to sit down with him, I’ll have to ask him a lot of questions.”

After he disappeared, his students launched a huge manhunt to track him down after hearing that he was last seen taking his two Pomeranians for a walk but failing to return home.

Having no partner, kids or close relatives in the city, it was up to his pals to track him down.

But after filing a missing persons case, they found that his name didn’t exist in the population register.

Three days of worry passed before his students were told the truth about their beloved instructor.

Montgomery County, the office in charge of his case, has praised the international community for helping them to carry out justice.

Police Chief Marcus Jones said: “We are happy they were able to snatch him after all the years.

“This is a fabulous outcome to get this guy in custody.”

Three men were indicted in Texas on charges related to a $14.5 million health care fraud scheme.

Kuba Zarobkiewicz, 35, of San Antonio, Anthony Fermin, 32, of Boca Raton, Florida, and Farrukh Mirza, 39, of Richmond, Texas were charged with 22 counts related to health care fraud, identity theft and kickbacks, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

According to court documents, Zarobkiewicz and Fermin own various medical equipment companies and pharmacies involved in a scheme to defraud Medicare. Their role in the scheme was to pay kickbacks to telemarketing firms owned and operated by Mirza in exchange for signed doctor’s orders issued for unnecessary hip, knee and back braces, federal prosecutors allege.

The three were charged in December 2022 with one count of conspiracy to pay and receive health care kickbacks; one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud; six counts of healthcare fraud; and six counts of aggravated identity theft and aiding and abetting, prosecutors said.

Zarobkiewicz and Fermin were also charged with four counts of payment of illegal health care kickbacks, while Mirza is charged with four counts of receipt of illegal health care kickbacks.

All three men have been released on bond while they await trial at a later date.

If convicted, they each face a maximum penalty of five years in prison on the count of conspiracy to pay and receive healthcare kickbacks, 10 years in prison on the respective counts pertaining to healthcare fraud, plus a mandatory two-year consecutive sentence if convicted on the aggravated identity theft counts.

A solicitor who “shattered” public trust in the profession by making a fake personal injury (PI) claim through the law firm where he worked has been struck off.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) said that, although there were signs that Farrukh Abbas had acted in concert with a paralegal at Prime Law Solicitors in Ilford, Essex who had far more experience of PI matters than him, this did not displace his “high culpability”.

The SDT heard that Mr Abbas, admitted in 2014, worked for Chauhan Solicitors from admission until May 2020. He was also, from August 2017, a consultant at Prime Law Solicitors in Ilford, Essex. He was predominantly an immigration lawyer.

At the end of July 2017, after a crash involving his car, Mr Abbas instructed Prime Law to bring a PI claim valued at up to £10,000. However, the other driver provided evidence to his insurer that it had been Mr S – the paralegal – who was driving Mr Abbas’s car.

Mr Abbas replied with a witness statement rejecting this version of events and urging the insurer to settle. The solicitor later sent a medical report and an invoice for physiotherapy.

The insurer requested a further witness statement, supported by a statement of truth, at which point the firm told Mr Abbas that, “having considered all of the available evidence in this matter and as a result of your lack of co-operation”, it was dropping the case.

The Insurance Fraud Bureau reported the matter to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). Mr Abbas admitted that the driver was indeed Mr S and apologised for his “poor decision making”. He claimed it had been Mr S’s idea for him to claim.

Mr S disputed this, saying he had neither suggested nor run the claim. He said he had borrowed Mr Abbas’s car thinking he had fully comprehensive insurance allowing him to do so, but in fact it had lapsed. Both men said the firm itself was not aware of what happened.

Mr Abbas admitted pursuing a fabricated claim for damages, signing a witness statement containing a declaration of truth knowing it was untrue, providing untrue instructions and misleading information to a medical expert, and signing a declaration confirming that he agreed with the contents of the medical report. He also admitted dishonesty.

The SDT found that there was “some evidence of Mr [S’s] involvement from which an element of joint venture between Mr Abbas and Mr [S] could be inferred”.

This included Mr S’s reluctance to admit to being uninsured, “which may have given him a reason to propose the plan to Mr Abbas”. Neither witness “struck the tribunal as honest in giving their evidence”, it said.

Counsel for Mr Abbas said that at a time when his decision making was “impaired by his personal problems”, he had been led “by the nose” into the misconduct, described as “a ham-fisted, ill-thought-out, and unsophisticated fraud which had been bound to unravel under critical scrutiny”.

He questioned too why the SRA had not taken action against Mr S and/or the firm and its principals “who, at the least, supervised” the pair poorly.

But the SDT said the possible involvement of Mr S “did not displace Mr Abbas’ high culpability, as he had taken a knowing and full role in the matters giving rise to the misconduct”.

“The trust the public placed in the profession was shattered when a solicitor engaged in such behaviour, and in the pursuit of personal and unwarranted gain.”

The tribunal rejected the argument that the mitigation amounted to exceptional circumstances that meant a strike-off should not follow a finding of dishonesty.

The SRA claimed £24,000 in costs but, because of Mr Abbas’s very limited financial means, the SDT decided to make no order.

“To make a costs order against Mr Abbas would be unjustifiably punitive. He did not have the means to pay it, it would likely never be satisfied, and would remain a burden upon him for many years.”

A man has been arrested for fraud after allegedly faking the death of his wife to claim 10 million baht from life insurance companies. The man denied the charge and blamed his wife and brother-in-law instead. He did insist on paying back the insurance companies that were scammed.

The Central Investigations Bureau (CIB) was notified about the fraud and after a short investigation arrested the accused, a 44 year old man named Chavit on Saturday, at a house on Bang Waek Road in the Taling Chan district of Bangkok.

According to Khaosod, Chavit and his wife bought life insurance from several companies in February 2015. Then, each company was notified about the death of the wife and paid the family over 10 million baht.

Chavit acknowledged the charges against him but maintained his innocence. He said that his brother-in-law did the crime under his name and did not get any money from the fake death.

Chavit explained that his brother-in-law worked with a community leader in Chiang Mai to issue a false death certificate and submit it to the insurance companies. He was not sure whether his wife was involved or not and did not know where the money went.

Chavit said he divorced his wife immediately after learning about the cheating. He did not know where his ex-wife and his brother-in-law were but believed that they were on the run from the arrest.

Chavit said that he tried to pay back the insurance companies, adding that he did not mean to escape arrest but forgot about his court summons.

Three men will face court over fraud-related offences against the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), following the execution of search warrants early yesterday morning in Western Sydney.

The warrants, relating to alleged fraudulent activity totalling more than $3.3 million, came following an investigation by the Albanese Government’s Fraud Fusion Taskforce.

Early on Tuesday morning, Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers executed search warrants across three separate residences in Western Sydney.

The activity led to the arrest and charging of one man, with two other men being issued with Court Attendance Notices for offences including Obtain Financial Gain by Deception and Dealing In Proceeds of Crime.

The arrested man was granted conditional bail and will appear in court on April 4. The remaining two will first appear on March 21.

The charges relate to alleged work and services being undertaken for registered NDIS providers.

“The Fraud Fusion Taskforce is now able to draw on greater cross-agency collaboration, which means wider knowledge and a better ability to detect and catch any criminal who targets the NDIS,” Minister for the NDIS, the Hon. Bill Shorten MP said.

“My warning to any criminal attempting to defraud the NDIS – get off our scheme.”

It is alleged the three men, each known to one another, set up or acquired businesses as disability providers before going on to submit false claims for NDIS services that were never provided.

The latest arrests follow the earlier arrest of a Brisbane man for alleged fraud against the NDIS.

The man, who was arrested upon re-entering the country in June, had been facing one charge of General Dishonesty.

However, after further work by the NDIA, he is now facing 25 more charges relating to alleged fraudulent activity with a value of more than $430,000. He will face court on March 3.

Two people were arrested after facing accusations of attempting to defraud an insurance company out of over $27,000, authorities say.

According to the Louisiana Department of Public Safety, Lenae Honore, 26, of Zachary and an accomplice identified as Trey Francis are accused of filing at least 43 fraudulent separate insurance claims with American Bankers Insurance between Feb. 28, 2020 and Aug. 13, 2021. Had all of the claims been filed, they would have amounted to $27,104.17.

Though most of the claims were denied for misrepresentation, authorities say 11 were paid and amounted to a value of $11,104.17.

The Louisiana Department of Insurance became suspicious of the claims and brought its concerns to the Louisiana State Police Insurance Fraud/Auto Theft Program in January of 2020.

After an investigation was launched, authorities secured a May 11, 2022 warrant for phone records associated with the 43 claims. Officials say these records led investigators directly to Honore and Francis.

An arrest document states, “Based upon the information learned as a result of this investigation, Honore and Francis perpetrated a scheme to fraudulently claim damaged or lost/stolen cell phones.”

Authorities say Honore was responsible for three paid claims valued at $4,859.21 and Francis was responsible for five paid claims that amounted to $6,245.

Both were accused of insurance fraud (felony).

Charges filed against a Muskegon County tow truck driver accused of defrauding insurance companies have been dropped.

Andrew Heykoop, operations manager for Eagle Towing in Muskegon County, was charged with three felony counts of insurance fraud.

Investigators said Heykoop billed insurance companies with invoices that had false information.

The charges against him were dropped without prejudice, meaning the prosecutor can choose to reissue the charges in the future, alter the claim or take the charges to a different court.

There is no fine or cost when charges are dropped without prejudice.

The most recent instance of alleged insurance fraud through Eagle Towing dates back to March 2022, when two cars crashed in Holton Township.

Court documents obtained by 13 ON YOUR SIDE showed Eagle Towing sent Pioneer State Mutual Insurance Company an invoice that included $455 for storage, a $276.50 fuel charge, $1,475 for the accident and $2,475 for Maxel Services Property/Environmental Remediation for a total of $4,681.50.

The Sheriff’s Office found that the Muskegon County Road Commission had been responsible for clearing the debris and that no cleanup was performed by Eagle Towing, but the company still billed the insurance company for those services.

While Heykoop was unavailable for comment, his lawyer, Michael Corcoran, spoke with 13 ON YOUR SIDE in September. He said Heykoop denies the allegations. Corcoran said he is confident his client would be exonerated.

A New Haven man has been arrested and charged with illegally collecting workers’ compensation benefits while being employed as a campus police officer at the Yale University Police Department.

Warren Palmer, age 59, of New Haven, was arrested on July 30, 2026 by Inspectors from the Workers’ Compensation Fraud Control Unit in the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney on a warrant charging him with one count each of Perjury, in violation of Connecticut General Statues § 53a-156, Larceny in the First Degree, in violation of Connecticut General Statues § 53a-122 (a)(2), and Fraudulent Claim or Receipt of Benefits in violation of Connecticut General Statues § 31-290c (a)(1). Palmer is accused of receiving indemnity payments totaling $38,655.94 that he was not entitled to.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit, in November 2025, Palmer reported suffering injuries to his ribs and abdomen while performing martial arts training at the police department’s training center. Palmer was subsequently placed on Temporary Total Disability (TTD) by his treating providers. TTD is a wage replacement benefit paid by the employer’s workers’ compensation insurance carrier while the claimant is unable to perform any type of work due to a work-related injury or illness. Palmer was later placed on Temporary Partial Disability (TPD) and began receiving TPD and benefits from the State of Connecticut. TPD benefits are wage replacement monies for those who qualify under the program. During that period of benefits, the recipient is considered to have limited work capacity and must inform the employer of any improvements in their injuries. They also are required to report any income beyond the benefits provided. Palmer received indemnity payments totaling $38,655.94 he was not entitled to. Documentation showed that while receiving payments, he exceeded the physical restrictions set forth by his treating physicians and that he could have returned to full duty work capacity.

Palmer surrendered himself at the Rocky Hill Police Department. He was released on a $10,000 non-surety bond. His next scheduled court date in Superior Court in New Haven, Geographical Area No. 23, is September 29, 2026.

The case will be prosecuted by the Workers’ Compensation Fraud Control Unit in the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney in Rocky Hill. The charges are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

North Texan Pair Arrested For Alleged COVID-19 Related Fraud