Thursday, September 3, 2009

MIDWEST NEWS ZONE......

Ohio Department of Insurance Director Mary Jo Hudson announced that a Franklin County Grand Jury indicted Luther Watts, Lysandrous Mullins, Jr., and Patricia Irene Mullins on eight counts of insurance fraud each. Watts and Mullins, Jr. are residents of Columbus whileMullins resides in Harts, West Virginia.


In May 2006, the Ohio Department of Insurance, the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office, the West Virginia State Police and the West Virginia Office of the Insurance Commissioner began investigating the three individuals as they had filed a significant number of insurance claims. Claims filed included acts of arson, theft, auto accidents and disability / personal injury claims.


The investigation revealed the three suspects would purchase vehicles from local car dealerships using fraudulent documents and employment information, and would take out credit disability insurance. Shortly after obtaining vehicles, the suspects would then contact the insurance carrier and report they were injured and/or disabled. In order to maximize the length of time the insurance company would have to pay on the vehicle, the suspects would alter disability forms obtained from their provider and submit them to the insurance carriers.


The three individuals are scheduled to be arraigned on Sept. 9.