Claims News Service, Apr. 19, 9:04 a.m. EDT — Each year, theTexas Department of Insurance's fraud investigators examine fraudalleged to have been committed by persons engaged in the insurancebusiness as well as claim fraud committed by policyholders, serviceproviders, and others.

In 2005 and the first part of 2006, TDI's Fraud Unitsuccessfully prosecuted 114 cases of people who got caught tryingto make money through insurance fraud. Here, in no particularorder, is TDI's list of the top 10 insurance fraud offenders: 1.Walter Neuls , former Colonial Casualty Insurance CompanyPresident, along with his wife Deidra who served as Vice President,schemed to defraud the company out of $750,000. The Neuls used themoney to fund an elaborate lifestyle, including travel andextravagant personal purchases, resulting in the insolvency ofColonial Casualty. TDI subsequently placed the company inreceivership. Both husband and wife received 120 months deferredadjudication for the offense of misapplication of fiduciaryproperty and were ordered to pay $750,000 in restitution. 2. DavidBrabandt and his sister Barbara Del Aguila operated AguilaInsurance Agency in Dallas. Neither held valid licenses to sellinsurance in Texas (Brabandt had never been licensed to sellinsurance in Texas and Aguila's license was cancelled in 1998).They were charged in multiple indictments in April 2005 with takingpayments from over 300 victims and not purchasing insurance forthem. They pled guilty on Feb. 1, 2006 to two felony charges, weresentenced to two years in the Texas Department of Corrections, andwere ordered to pay $183,861.29 in restitution. 3. Jack Miller Sr.,a former insurance agent, used the identities of unsuspectingconsumers to submit 30 fraudulent applications for life insuranceto two different insurance companies. Miller's scheme enabled himto obtain $21,850.40 in advance commissions on those purportedsales. Miller pled guilty in Austin to the state jail felony chargeof Aggregated Theft and was sentenced to nine months in a TexasState Jail Facility. 4. An investigation into a staged accidentring in the Dallas area netted the apprehension of nineindividuals. The nine were part of a ring that submitted 71fraudulent accident claims totaling almost $600,000. Several of theclaims were filed using identifying information of people withouttheir knowledge To date, seven of the nine have been convicted ofEngaging in Organized Criminal Activity. Bobby Williams received 10years deferred adjudication and was ordered to pay $55,021.61 inrestitution; Wallace Williams received 10 years deferredadjudication and was ordered to pay restitution totaling$109,729.29; Michael Williams was sentenced to 7 years in the TexasDepartment of Criminal Justice; Kenneth Clewis was sentenced to 5years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, was fined $1,500and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $598,431.69;Lushiul Charles Boston received 10 years probation, was fined$3,000 and was ordered to pay $89,000 in restitution; NathanielWilliams received 5 years probation and was ordered to payrestitution in the amount of $59,913.20; and Brandon Williamsreceived 10 months deferred adjudication and was fined $1,500. 5.Donn A. Bauer, using a company name of International DiagnosticTechnologies, fraudulently submitted 1,371 health insurance relatedclaims, totaling $425,682 to insurance companies for his servicesas a medical provider. Bauer represented himself as a licensedDoctor of Chiropractic, when, in fact, he is not. Before the schemewas detected, Bauer was able to receive approximately $344,679.87from insurance companies. Bauer received 72 months probation forthe offense of Insurance Fraud, was fined $14,000 and was orderedto pay restitution in the amount of $55,113.91. 6. Dirk Rosecontinued working for almost three years while receiving Long TermDisability benefits and Workers' Compensation benefits. Insurerspaid $103,004.60 to Rose and medical providers during the course ofhis scheme. Rose received 120 months probation for insurance fraud,was fined $2,500 and was ordered to pay $81,000 in restitution. 7.Rodney Bigler, a passenger in a vehicle involved in an accident,submitted a fraudulent statement to the at-fault driver's insurancecompany for $40,000 in lost wages attributable to the accident.Bigler pled guilty to the offense of Insurance Fraud and wassentenced to two years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.8. Katie James filed a claim on a credit disability policy usingfraudulent medical records to support her claim. She received$8,275 in payments before her scheme was detected. James wassentenced to 30 days confinement for Insurance Fraud, was orderedto serve five years probation, was fined $500 and ordered to payrestitution in the amount of $8,284. 9. Jose Vega, a former TexasPeace Officer, filed a claim with his insurer for $7,790.50 initems stolen during a burglary of his residence. The burglary neverhappened and the items were not stolen. Vega received five yearsdeferred adjudication, was ordered to complete 260 hours ofcommunity service, and was ordered to pay $7,790.50 in restitution.In addition Vega was ordered to surrender his peace officer licenseto the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards andEducation. 10. Donald “Tony” Brelsford, a former agent, receivedinsurance premiums from two business clients, and instead offorwarding the premiums to the insurance company, used the moneyfor his own benefit. Brelsford received 10 years deferredadjudication and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of$74,021.