"Home
wrecker - Insurance adjuster Steven Budge rammed a huge chunk
of tree through a small hole in a roof to reportedly inflate
an insurance claim"
Coalition
Unveils Its 'Fraud Hall of Shame' List for
2002
The nation's top 13
insurance crooks, cons and knuckleheads of
2002 have been enshrined into the first annual
Insurance Fraud Hall of Shame by the Coalition
Against Insurance Fraud.
The inaugural scheme team was dishonored for
insurance swindles that were exceptionally
large, brazen, tragic or plain stupid. All
Hall of Shame members were convicted or their
cases closed in 2002. Visit http://www.InsuranceFraud.org
for full crime details.
"America's biggest insurance fraud pros
became fraud cons after being convicted for
trying to live lives of the rich and
shameless. This proves there's no such thing
as an immaculate deception," Dennis Jay,
the coalition's executive director, commented.
Those making the list include:
Sinking feeling - Reportedly, Russian pirates
tried to sink his yacht, wealthy Beverly Hills
lawyer Rex DeGeorge insisted when caught after
botching a scheme to scuttle his luxury boat
for $3.5 million in insurance money. Los
Angeles.
Big cotton-pickin' dig - A farmer somehow
reportedly buried his eight-ton cotton picker
- as big as two trash trucks - then pretended
it was stolen so he could scam insurance
money. Rochelle, Ga.
World Trade dissenter - Charles Gavett
reportedly said his wife died in the World
Trade Center attacks. He claimed more than
$600,000 in life insurance money - but Cynthia
actually was alive and well back home.
Concord, Ga.
Grave mistake - Raul Pero's grave contained
only rocks. He reportedly faked his own death
for $2 million in life insurance money, but
screwed up when a crony tried to cash in a
life policy before the date on Pero's death
certificate. Los Angeles.
Hate paint - The torched car plus racial slur
painted on Jaelynn Sealey's garage door seemed
like a vicious hate crime. But she reportedly
invented the racial attack herself to steal
insurance money. Hunterville, NC.
Meth muddle - Richard Martinez' illegal meth
lab blew up and seriously burned him. He
reportedly scammed $40,000 in workers
compensation insurance by saying he was hurt
while working for his mother's bakery. Santa
Ana, Calif.
Heartless heart doc - Dr. Andrew Cubria
performed more than 750 worthless and painful
heart operations on homeless people and
addicts to reportedly illegally bill
taxpayer-supported Medicaid more than $2
million. Chicago.
Lamborghini lifestyle - Rogue financier and
S&M playboy Martin Frankel secretly took
over seven small insurance companies and
reportedly stole more than $200 million while
thousands of policyholders lost their
coverage. Greenwich, Conn.
Booze and bricks - Brothers Jimmie and Isom
Turquitt reportedly nearly got rich by luring
alcoholics to their farm for bogus bricklaying
jobs, buying life insurance policies on them,
and feeding them booze so they'd drink
themselves to death. Birmingham, Ala.
Police protection? - One of NYPD's own
employees reportedly helped run a huge auto-
insurance swindle from, of all places, inside
the department itself. New York City.
Dollars & dents - "Flint"
Hawkins reportedly staged hundreds of fake car
crashes to bilk insurers out of millions for
20 years. New York City.
What nerve! - Dr. Felix Vasquez-Ruiz
reportedly performed thousands of worthless
nerve tests involving painful electric shocks,
then billed taxpayer-supported health programs
$4 million for the phony treatments. Chicago.
Home wrecker - Insurance adjuster Steven Budge
rammed a huge chunk of tree through a small
hole in a roof to reportedly inflate an
insurance claim - only to have a nosy neighbor
videotape everything. Vernon Twp., NJ.
