A Washington County Grand Jury has returned an indictment for first-degree insurance fraud involving a vehicle that was reported stolen but was later found buried on private property in the Tibbie Community.
Mumbai The Shivaji Park police have booked a woman, and her son, for allegedly trying to dupe the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India by claiming insurance amount of a high value policy based on a fake death certificate of her son.
According to the police, the accused had taken a high value life insurance policy for her son and later produced a fake death certificate to claim the money. The public sector company, however, got suspicious about the claim and on verification found that the documents were fake.
The LIC officials then approached the police and lodged a complaint. The Shivaji Park police have booked Dinesh Taaksale and his mother Nandbai.
According to the police Nandbai and Dinesh had showed inflated income and applied for a life insurance policy for the latter at LIC’s Gokhale Road branch in Dadar. They had asked for a policy with life insurance cover of ₹8 crore, the LIC, however, had issued them a policy with a cover of ₹2 crore.
“After paying the insurance premium for a few months, the mother approached the LIC, claiming that her son Dinesh had died and even submitted a fake death certificate relating to his death,” said a police officer from Shivaji Park police station.
Before disbursing the amount, the insurance company, as per their procedure and as the amount involved was considerably high, conducted a detailed verification and found that the death certificate submitted was fake.
“The insurance company learnt that with the aim of cheating them, the duo had taken the policy and later tried to claim the insurance amount falsely showing that the applicant was dead. We registered a case for cheating, forgery, conspiracy and punishment for attempting to commit offences,” said the police officer.
The Shivaji Park police have sent teams to question the accused named by the LIC. “Only when we question them, things will become clear. It might be a racket of cheating insurance companies. We will examine all possible angles,” said the police officer.
United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the return of an indictment charging Travis Morgan Slaughter and Tripp Charles Slaughter with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit tax fraud related to a roofing business that they operated. Travis Slaughter is also charged with failing to account for and pay over payroll taxes to the IRS and evading personal income taxes for the years 2017 through 2019. Tripp Slaughter is also charged with filing false personal income tax returns for the years 2016 through 2019.
The wire fraud conspiracy count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and the tax fraud conspiracy and evasion of taxes counts each carry a maximum penalty of 5 years’ imprisonment. The filing false tax return counts each carry a maximum penalty of 3 years’ imprisonment. The indictment also notifies the defendants that the United States intends to seek forfeiture of a total of approximately $3 million, the estimated amount of proceeds obtained as a result of the wire fraud conspiracy.
According to the indictment, Travis Morgan Slaughter and Tripp Charles Slaughter operated a roofing business in Jacksonville under the name Great White Construction, Inc. (a/k/a Florida Roofing Experts, Inc., a/k/a 5 Star Roofing Services LLC). The company contracted with professional employer organizations (“PEOs”) to prepare payroll checks for the company’s employees, after making deductions for payroll taxes, and to file payroll tax returns and forward tax payments to the governmental authorities.
However, the company did not provide the PEOs with information about all of the hours worked by or all of the wages due to its employees. Instead, the company also paid the employees directly, with separate checks drawn on company bank accounts, and did not deduct payroll taxes from these checks. By paying employees with “split checks”—one from the PEO and one from the company—the company avoided paying the full amount of payroll taxes due to the IRS.
On many occasions, the company issued checks from its checking account in lump sum amounts to work crew leaders for work performed by the crews. Many of the workers on these crews were citizens of other countries who were living and working in the United States illegally. The work crew leaders obtained cash for the checks and paid the workers on the crews in cash. Paying the workers in cash helped these undocumented non-citizens to continue to live and work in the United States illegally.
During the period of January 2017 through July 2020, the PEOs issued payroll checks to the employees totaling approximately $4,930,613, after deducting and paying over to the IRS the payroll taxes due. During that same period, the company issued checks to the employees totaling approximately $18,545,845, with no payroll taxes being deducted or paid. The unpaid payroll taxes on that amount—including only the Social Security and Medicare taxes and income tax that should have been withheld from the employees’ pay—was $2,768,377.
The PEOs also secured workers’ compensation insurance coverage for the company. The premiums charged by the workers’ compensation insurers were based on the total amount of payroll that the company reported to the PEOs. If the company had reported the actual amount of payroll, the insurers would have charged additional premiums totaling millions of dollars.
Travis Slaughter evaded the payment of income taxes for the years 2017 through 2019 by, among other things, failing to file a tax return for 2017 and not filing returns for 2018 and 2019 until 2021, which returns significantly underreported his income from the business. He also withdrew hundreds of thousands of dollars from business bank accounts, fraudulently transferred two properties to his children, and purchased four properties that he fraudulently titled in the names of his children.
Tripp Slaughter filed false tax returns for the years 2016 through 2019 by failing to include the income he was paid directly by the company that totaled approximately $121,492 and failing to report business income that totaled approximately $847,597.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of the federal criminal laws, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Arnold B. Corsmeier.
For his alleged involvement in a N20 million fraudulent transaction, the police in Lagos have arraigned an Insurance Brokers, John Ethagbe, before the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos.
The defendant was arraigned before Justice Yelim Bogoro by the men of the Police Special Fraud Unit (PSFU) on a two count-charge of conspiracy to commit fraud and obtaining N20 million by false pretences.
The police prosecutor, Henry Obiaze, informed the court that the defendant, Jerome Itepu (now at large) and a company, Omo Jay Limited, committed the offences sometime in December 2012 in Lagos State.
Obiaze also informed the court that the defendant and others allegedly obtained the sum from one Felix Ogbe, with the pretence that the money was for the execution of a contract awarded to them by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
He insisted that the offences contravened sections 8(a) and 1(1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Related crimes Act 2006 and were punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Related Offences Act Laws of Federation of Nigeria 2006.
The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Following his plea, the prosecutor urged the court to remand the defendant in prison custody and fix a trial date.
But the defence lawyer, Sylvanus Ogwemoh (SAN), while moving his client’s bail application, told the judge that the issue that led to the charges was purely a civil contract between parties.
After listening to the lawyers, Justice Bogoro adjourned the matter to March 21 for a ruling on the bail application.
The judge, however, released the defendant to his lawyer with an order that he must produce the defendant at the next adjourned date.
A clinical laboratory in Burlington and its Acton owner were recently indicted following allegations of Medicaid fraud involving urine drug tests that led to the submission of more than $400,000 in false claims, according to Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell.
Campbell announced in a press release on Friday that Solid Diagnostics Inc. and owner Rita Ausiejus were indicted by a grand jury in February on two counts each of Medicaid false claims, Medicaid reverse false claims and larceny over $1,200.
Campbell’s office alleges that Solid Diagnostics and Ausiejus submitted claims to MassHealth for urine drug tests that “were not appropriately ordered by physicians or other authorized prescribers.”
The AG added the urine drug tests were also for residential sobriety monitoring purposes. According to the release, laboratories are not allowed to bill MassHealth for tests performed at sober homes for residential monitoring purposes because such tests are not medically necessary.
By billing MassHealth and its managed care entities for these tests, the defendants allegedly caused over $400,000 in false claims.
Solid Diagnostics and Ausiejus are set to be arraigned in Middlesex Superior Court on March 21.
Attempts by The Sun to reach Solid Diagnostics were unsuccessful.
Campbell stated these charges “are the latest development in the work of the AG’s Office to address kickbacks and false claims among Medicaid providers, particularly independent clinical laboratories.”
According to the AG’s office, in December, an independent clinical laboratory agreed to pay $1.5 million to the MassHealth program to resolve allegations by the AG’s Office that it engaged in an illegal kickback relationship with a New Bedford-based clinical laboratory.
Last June, an investigation by the Medicaid Fraud Division resulted in charges against three independent clinical laboratories, their owner and holding company, an additional independent clinical laboratory and its owner, two laboratory marketing companies, and a physician in connection with Medicaid fraud, money laundering, and kickbacks involving over $2 million in urine drug tests.
A man in Hong Kong was arrested on Friday morning for fraudulently acquiring a large amount of COVID-19 medications over the course of several days, according to a Saturday report from local newspaper South China Morning Post.
The suspect, aged 60, reportedly received nine courses of free COVID-19 drugs in the span of five days. Each round of medications was obtained from a different private clinic, according to the Morning Post.
Hong Kong police told the Morning Post that the investigation was continuing and more arrests were possible. The police believe that this case is connected to a similar incident that occurred in late February.
Previous instance of COVID-19 medication fraud
Police arrested a 63-year-old man on February 28 on suspicion of lying about contracting the COVID-19 virus in order to get free medication, according to Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), a local public broadcasting service.
He also went to nine private clinics but did so over two days. RTHK cited a police statement saying that the maximum potential punishment for such a crime is 14 years in prison. Selling or giving out prescription drugs is punishable by a maximum fine of HKD 100,000 (approx. $12,740) and two years in prison.
“Members of the public are also reminded not to resell or provide to others prescribed Covid-19 oral drugs legally obtained from doctors, regardless of whether the drugs are supplied by the Government for free or self-purchased from the doctors,” the RTHK cited the Hong Kong police statement as saying.
The administrator of a pediatric extended care center was arrested on Medicaid fraud charges, the attorney general’s office announced Wednesday.
Court records said Carlos Cabrera submitted fraudulent claims for continual care that should have been provided to children with medically-complex conditions, bilking Florida Medicaid out of more than $400,000.
He ran Angels On Earth PPEC, which had locations in Orlando, Melbourne, Haines City and Lakeland.
Officials said Cabrera, who was responsible for all Medicaid PPEC billing, billed an almost 100% attendance rate to get the maximum payment per patient despite knowing that not everyone attended every day.
They said that services were not rendered for up to 34% of the claims submitted for reimbursement.
“This defendant used vulnerable children and their families for his own financial gain by overbilling and stealing from a taxpayer-funded program,” Attorney General Ashley Moody said. “My Medicaid Fraud Control Unit uncovered this devious scheme and will now ensure this defendant faces justice.”
Cabrera faces one count of Medicaid provider fraud.
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Delhi Police have arrested five people, including two former employees of a leading insurance firm, for allegedly cheating 22 policy holders and withdrawing Rs 2.38 crore that remained with the insurer unclaimed either as surrendered amount or after maturity, officials said on Wednesday.
A senior police official said one of the accused, Rohit Kumar Aggarwal (28), who worked with Max Life Insurance as a senior executive, had access to the company data. Aggarwal used to identify the policy holders whose surrendered and maturity amount remained unclaimed with the company for an unusually long time.
He would give the details of the target policy holders to Sujeet Kumar Mishra (41), who too was an employee of the insurance firm. Mishra would pass on the information to Chandan Jain (41), who would give the details to Prem Parkash (37) to open new bank accounts in the name of these policy holders. Vikas (30), the fifth accused, worked at an Aadhaar Centre and he helped the gang in updating Aadhaar details in the new bank accounts.
Officials said the case has exposed the vulnerability of the process of updating personal details at Aadhaar centres for misuse.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Intelligence Fusion & Strategic Operations) Prashant Gautam said Prakash would lure poor people, mostly those from slum clusters near Rana Pratap Bagh, and take them to an Aadhaar centre to get their names and addresses changed to the names and addresses of the policy holders.
“Vikas, who worked at the Aadhaar centre at SBI, Gujranwala Town, got these changes updated without taking any relevant documents after taking Rs 1,000-1,500 per case. Thereafter, these people applied for PAN cards and voter cards on the basis of the updated Aadhaar. After getting PAN and voter cards, their bank accounts were opened. Many of these accounts were opened digitally using e-Aadhaar authentication process,” Gautam said.
He said Prakash would give cheque or passbooks of the bank accounts displaying the names of the policy holders to Jain, who passed on these documents to Aggarwal through Mishra.
Aggarwal, who at the time was an employee of the insurance firm, would process the documentation and send them from his official email Id to the data entry team to initiate the refund process.
The refund was received in the new bank accounts opened by Prakash and his associates, the DCP said.
Most of the amount was then transferred to the bank accounts opened in the name of Rinku Sales, whose proprietor was Prakash, having the address of Kabir Nagar, Rana Pratap Bagh, Delhi. From these bank accounts, the accused would withdraw the amount, the official said.
“The bank accounts of Rinku Sales were operated by Jain from whose possession, the SIM card linked with the account number, debit cards and cheque books have been recovered,” Gautam said.
Police said they exposed the whole operation by the five men after receiving a complaint by Max Life Insurance Corporation, which alleged nearly Rs 51 lakh related to surrendered and maturity amount of two of its policy holders had been fraudulently received by unknown persons. The company later found that one of its policy holders had died on March 13, 2018, and no request for withdrawal of money was made on his behalf.
After examining the documents and information shared by the company and it was revealed that nearly Rs 2.38 crore — from 37 policies of 22 policy holders — was refunded fraudulently, police said.
Gautam said the accused opened accounts in several banks in the name of policy holders. Many of these accounts were opened digitally using the e-Aadhaar authentication process, the official added.
The DCP said they first arrested Prem Prakash.
Police first tried to locate the address of Rinku Sales but could not find it at the given Kabir Nagar address. “Then, the team conducted comprehensive analysis and finally managed to identify the address of Prem Prakash at Chandan Vihar, Sant Nagar, Burari from where he was apprehended,” Gautam said.
Subsequently, the remaining accused were arrested, he added.
In a statement, Max Life Insurance said it discovered the fraud during an internal enquiry and has terminated the employments of the implicated individuals with immediate effect. The company is extending support to aid the ongoing investigation to ensure justice is met, it added.
“We believe in conducting business with the highest standards of ethics and integrity. We have zero tolerance for any unethical and fraudulent practices that compromise our customers’ interest and put Max Life’s reputation at risk,” the company said.
Eric Mosley, a 43-year-old resident of Fairburn, is wanted for seven counts of insurance fraud, four counts of forgery, and two counts of identity fraud, according to Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John F. King. The charges stem from a series of fraudulent insurance claims filed by Mosley with various insurance companies.
Mosley reportedly submitted four claims to Allstate Insurance in 2021, seeking compensation for damages to two vehicles. Both vehicles were listed on an insurance policy belonging to an unwitting victim. Mosley allegedly went to great lengths to deceive the insurance company, submitting four counterfeit repair invoices in an effort to obtain over $18,000. Fortunately, the claim was ultimately denied, and no payment was issued.
Between December 2022 and January 2023, Mosley reportedly targeted Progressive Insurance with three additional fraudulent claims. Employing yet another policy under an unknowing victim’s name, Mosley alleged damages to his vehicle’s passenger side, citing a pothole collision that resulted in a subsequent collision with a guardrail. Progressive Insurance promptly denied the claim even before any repair invoices were submitted.
As a result of these illicit activities, warrants were issued against Mosley in Fulton County on May 10. Law enforcement officials are actively seeking his arrest.
A Charlotte woman is being charged with insurance fraud after being accused of presenting an invoice for car repair that never occurred.
The N.C. Department of Insurance said on March 23, Joquetta Jacqueline Clair, 23, of Steele Creek, presented a fictitious invoice from a collision center to her insurance company showing that damage to her 2015 Dodge Charger had been repaired. However, the collision center reportedly never did the repair work nor produced the invoice.
The case is being investigated by the DOI’s Criminal Investigations Division.
Clair is scheduled to appear in Mecklenburg County District Court on Oct. 2.
“Property and casualty insurance fraud costs insurance customers an estimated $120 billion a year in increased premiums,” said DOI Commissioner Mike Causey. “The Department of Insurance has beefed up its fraud-fighting staff in an effort to make more arrests to keep fraud from driving up insurance costs.”