State Beat Roundup - Investigative - Claims Magazine

by CustomerService@sbmedia.com (STAFF WRITER)

NORTH CAROLINA
Someone Fishy Named Wanda

Wanda Nichols Covington, 36, and her brother, Thomas Nichols, Jr., 32, share a tighter bond than most brothers and sisters — the bond of felony charges. The two were recently arrested for trying to commit auto insurance fraud, according to North Carolina’s Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin.

According to an arrest warrant, Covington is accused of filing false paperwork in May 2009 with Progressive Insurance Company. In her report, she claimed that her 2007 Hyundai Sonata had been stolen from her home. Progressive promptly paid her more than $11,000 for the loss.

When the car turned up partially burned a short time later, though, North Carolina Department of Insurance investigators were informed of it and went to work. After conducting an investigation, they determined that Wanda Covington’s car had never been stolen and alleged that she hired her brother to dispose of her car for her.

Thomas Nichols, Jr. was charged with obtaining property by false pretense, insurance fraud, and felony conspiracy. His sister, Wanda Covington, was charged with felony obtaining property by false pretense, insurance fraud, and felony conspiracy. Both were placed under $10,000 unsecured bonds their county’s sheriff’s department.

OHIO
Octofraud

It may not be surprising that insurance fraud is on the rise, but a recent investigation in Ohio has set the bar high for punishing low-life fraud suspects.

The Ohio Department of Insurance and a number of other agencies tracked down three individuals, each with a long list of insurance claims. Luther Watts, and Lysandrous Mullins, Jr. of Ohio, and Patricia Mullins of West Virginia, have filed claims for just about everything, including acts of arson, theft, auto accidents, and disability claims.

Investigators were right to be suspicious, as it was also revealed that the three suspects were running schemes through local car dealerships. Using fraudulent documents and employment information, the suspects bought cars at the dealerships and took out credit disability insurance.

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