Fraud of the Week

October 8, 2018

Arson— Florida

Amount: Unknown

 

In 2013 a woman called 911 to report a kitchen fire. She told authorities that she was cooking fish oil on her stove, fell asleep, and was later awakened by the smoke. During her 911 calls, she hung up on dispatchers two or three times and then arrived in person at the fire department to direct the fire fighters to a neighbors home. The fire was confined to her stove and microwave. She discussed suing her contractor because her smoke detector had failed to alarm the fires, despite smoke alarms being heard during her 911 calls. She had spoken to her insurance company twice before the fire, asking specific questions about her coverage for fire and theft, asking detailed questions about the need for receipts, police reports, and pictures. Each representative she spoke to asked if she had suffered a loss. After the loss, she called a contractor to help with the cleanup process. That contractor brought in Global Disaster Recovery, who took pictures of the damage. The fraudster called GDR later saying that she had brought in a garden hose to clean her kitchen herself. The contractor estimated that there were about 200 gallons of loose water all over the home. She later claimed that the fire department had flooded her home. She asked her contractor to say that the damages were more than it would actually cost to do the repairs, since the appliances that had been damaged were brand new. She asked the contractor to add $8,000 to the estimate. She had an inventory of personal property including “small appliances” which members of the fire department do not remember being present during the fire.

After four years, five defense attorneys, two judges and twenty two jurors, she has been found guilty of insurance fraud and arson, and is due to be sentenced in late October of 2018.