A U.S. District Court recently found Teresa R. Gallop guilty of seven counts of insurance fraud related to health care. But this was far from the Norfolk, Va. woman's first court appearance. Gallop, also known as Teresa R. Vick, had already amassed 60 fraud-related convictions and served time for a 1988 shooting death for which she pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter.

Her latest scheme -- and presumably last, at least for the near future -- entailed staging three auto accidents and filing phony medical claims for each to obtain insurance money. Gallop also filed fraudulent medical claims for a fourth, legitimate crash. The staged accidents occurred between 2002 and 2004 in Norfolk, Chesapeake, and Elizabeth City. Each time, she brought along children and placed them in vehicles after her son and another man ran the cars into each other, according to the testimony in the case. The testimony also indicated that Gallop and the children feigned injuries. As a result, Gallop collected close to $50,000 in insurance payments.

Many of the medical bills were altered, either to inflate the amount of the charge or to make it appear as if she had paid the hospital bill out-of-pocket, when in fact she had not. Some of the bills were completely fabricated.

Virginia State Police and the FBI arrested Gallop in December 2008, on one count of health-care fraud and six counts of filing false statements relating to health-care matters. Alan Salsbury and Katherine L. Martin, both assistant U.S. attorneys, prosecuted the case. Gallop's sentencing is scheduled for October.

Interested in more fraud news and in-depth articles? Head over to Claims' investigative channel for more information.

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