Fraud of the Week

October 29, 2018

Arson Fraud — Ohio

Amount: Unknown

Each member of a couple from Toledo, Ohio has been sentenced for concocting a scheme to burn down a home so they could obtain insurance money in order to pay off debts to their drug dealers. The man had a $160,000 policy on his home. The couple removed valuable things from the home prior to setting it on fire. The man was known to spend up to $2,000 per day on drugs, and the couple planned to burn down the home to pay off their debts as well as purchase additional drugs. The man apologized to the firefighters who responded to the fire, and paid restitution of $1043 to the department. Luckily no one was injured in the blaze. The judge that presided over the case said that it was the most clear-cut arson case he had ever seen. The fraudster must register as an arson offender for life, and was sentenced to almost 5 years in prison.