Fraud of the Week

June 5, 2017

False Claim Fraud — Louisiana

Amount: $115,063

This week a Louisiana woman was sentenced to twelve months and one day in prison for mail fraud stemming from a scheme where she lied on insurance documents and in U.S. Bankruptcy Court filings. She filed for bankruptcy in October of 2013 and valued all of her furniture and clothing at $1,000. One month later she purchased a renters insurance policy and stated within the application that her personal assets were worth $100,000. Her home caught fire and burned one month after the policy was purchased. Nine days later the defendant attended a creditors' hearing associated with the bankruptcy case, where she affirmed the information in the previous filing, specifically that her furniture and clothing were worth only $1000. The next day she filed a claim under the aforementioned renters insurance policy claiming that her property was valued at $116,063. She also received three years of supervised release and is required to pay $9,126.70 in restitution.