Slip And Fall Expert Heads Coalition Hall Of Shame

By Daniel Hays

NU Online News Service, Jan. 25, 1:59 p.m. EST?The Coalition Against Insurance Fraud has put out its annual Hall of Shame list led by a venal grandmother it said had scammed insurers out of $500,000 with slip-and-fall claims.[@@]

Jim Quiggle as spokesman for the Washington based group said he could not say if the grandmother--or any of the others who made the list--was an actual record-setter in terms of fraud.

One of the "gaping holes" in the insurance anti-fraud effort is a lack of empirical statistics, said Mr. Quiggle. Nationally anti-fraud numbers "just don't exist," he added.

The Coalition said each Hall of Shame inductee was "dishonored for cons that were exceptionally large, brazen, tragic or plain stupid." The new inductees all were convicted or their cases closed out in the last year.

Grandmother Isabel Parker, 73, managed to collect $500,000 during a 15-year career in New Jersey and Pennsylvania by claiming injuries during falls at stores, the coalition said.

Ms. Parker, according to the coalition, avoided stores with cameras and would lie on the ground rubbing her back after claiming a fall over a lamp cord or crack in the sidewalk. If the insurer asked too many questions, she would drop claims made under one of her 47 aliases, the coalition reported.

She was tripped up when a liquor store owner doubted her claim and investigation by the carrier revealed she was under house arrest for previous fraud activity. She was eventually sentenced to serve probation and make restitution.

More detail on Grandma Parker and other nominees, including photos of some is available at www.InsuranceFraud.org.

The Coalition said the others added to this year's Hall included the following, whose crimes they described, as follows:

?Fairfield County Ohio County Court Judge Don , who torched his house for $235,000 in insurance money.

? New York City millionaire Beatrice Kaufman who claimed the terrorist Sept. 11, 2001destruction of the World Trade Center did $1 million in damages to her $5-million Manhattan penthouse, which turned out to be under renovation at the time. She was sentenced to serve 52 weekends, pay a $169,000 fine and make restitution to insurers.

? Memphis, Tenn. Rev. Gerald Rayborn burned down his church to scam nearly $800,000 in insurance money, the coalition said. His sentence is pending.

? In Jamaica, N.Y., the coalition said Emile hoped to get out of deep debt by burning down his house, convinced his friend to help him and then locked his friend in the blazing building. The pal survived and helped send Mr. Moreau away for a 20-year to life term.

? In Atlanta, Ga., Lyn Turner used antifreeze to kill her policeman-husband Glenn Turner to collect on his life-insurance policy. She then married her lover, firefighter Randy Thompson and did him in with antifreeze to collect on his life policy as well. She is now doing a life term in a Georgia state prison.

? Buffalo, N.Y. dentist Tejbir Oberoi pulled patients' teeth and performed root canals on patients with healthy molars to hike his insurance billings and filed hundreds of phantom claims for work not done. He was sentenced to five years and three months in federal prison, restitution of insurance monies and suspension of license for three years after release.

? In California, John Hyde was a serial peddler of fake health insurance for 15 years selling to thousands of small businesses around the country. One of the victims of his bogus insurance was a nine-year-old boy left without coverage for brain cancer treatment. He is awaiting sentencing.

The coalition said Hall of Shame's aim is to highlight the severity and diversity of insurance scams.

Special Reports /

Slip And Fall Expert Heads Coalition Hall Of Shame

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