Fraud of the Week

October 12, 2018

Aircraft Arson and Insurance Fraud — Multi-State

Amount: Unknown

A pilot pleaded guilty in December 2017 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit arson. The pilot led a multi-jurisdictional fraud and arson scheme that stretched across several states, from Hawaii to the Gulf of Mexico. The scheme involved the destruction of several high valued goods including a luxury car, two airplanes, and a yacht. He had three co-conspirators who acquired the luxury goods and obtained insurance coverage for those items in amounts that often exceeded their value. The four co-conspirators then arranged and carried out schemes to destroy the goods and later report the losses to the insurance companies. Among the assets destroyed in the scheme were a 1966 Beechcraft Baron, a 1971 Cessna 500, a 1998 Hunter Passage, and a 2008 Lamborghini Gallardo. These vehicles were crashed, flooded, sunk or set on fire, and for each of these vehicles a fraudulent insurance claim was filed. The fraudsters filed a $1 million personal injury lawsuit having to do with the Beechcraft Baron crash, for which they received $100,000. The pilot was sentenced to five years in federal prison and was ordered to pay $988,544 in restitution.