A New Orleans couple was recently arrested on felony insurance fraud warrants by Louisiana's State Police Insurance Fraud Unit.
Russell and Elaine Lane are believed to have intentionally attempted to defraud their insurer by claiming Hurricane Katrina caused damage to their roof. An investigation by police, however, showed that the couple purposely created damage to their roof in order to activate the mold endorsement of their homeowners' insurance policy. The case was helped by the use of satellite imagery to verify the lack of or presence of damage in the days that immediately followed Katrina's landfall. These images were used to compare actual damage seen during inspections completed by insurance adjusters and allowed investigators to determine the difference between damage caused by a storm and man-made damage.
