Insurance Fraud

When an individual lies with the purpose of obtaining certain benefits or takes advantage of something they are not entitled to, or if someone knowingly denies some due this is known as fraud. Insurance companies receive a lot of claims throughout the year and a significant amount of such claims account for fraud. Frauds occur in all areas of insurance and pose significant threats to people both directly as well as indirectly. Why do people indulge in fraud? The most obvious answer is the huge amount of money that is usually involved in insurance. Most of the fraudulent cases are found out and then the defaulters have to pay a huge price not worth the entire drama. A case history Successful entrepreneur turns crook This is a scheme by one William Craig Miller who burnt down his posh home in Arizona in 2005 for the amount of insurance involved. But things went out of control. What he thought would be simple turned out to be extremely taxing and gory.  Apparently Miller was a successful community man, a young father and owned a home and business restoration company. Before he torched his home, he had quite cleverly moved his big screen plasma television, his Toyota Tundra and assorted guns from his home. The insurance company Allstate had already paid over $440, 000 to him for his claim. But Miller got into the suspicion list of the investigators. They found out the mysterious disappearance of the television, gun and the Toyota. This was one clue. There were other clues like gasoline pour patterns that were found in the house. The only room where the police did not find gasoline was in Miller’s son’s room. A few days in to the disaster, Tammy Lovell, one of Miller’s employees informed the Scottsdale police that Miller had employed another employee called Steven Duffy and her live-in boyfriend to help him burn down the house. Later the police found out from Daffy’s confessions where Miller’s television set and the rest of the things were hidden. The police also found taped phone calls between Lovell, Duffy and Miller that lead to more clues to solve this fraud. What more? Miller got out on bail and wanted to punish Lovell and Duffy and make them unable to testify. So, at 2.00 a.m. he went to Lovell’s home and according to neighbors, they heard gun shots inside. The SWAT team discovered the bodies of Lovell and her 2 children. However, Miller claimed he was with a friend out drinking till 2 a.m. But he had a different story to tell the Tribune. He told them that he and an unnamed companion entered Lovell’s house after bribing Steven Duffy’s brother to keep the door open and that he along with his accomplice was only trying to recover some of his personal items. Miller insisted that he was only reviewing court documents at Lovell’s house when Steven Duffy suddenly rushed out and opened fire. Miller returned the shot with his 9mm revolver, Miller told the Tribune. He further said that his accomplice might have hunted down the other people and shot them dead. However, according to the Scottsdale district attorney’s office, Miller had offered 4 men to kill Duffy and Miller’s administrative assistant Misty Cooper had helped place GPS device inside Duffy’s car and also bought the gun with which Duffy was killed. Finally Miller received 5 ½ years of imprisonment and is facing possible death penalties if convicted. The trials are scheduled for late May 2009.