59-Year-Old Woman Fakes Burglary, Pleads Guilty to Insurance Fraud

Nancy Moser, 59, of 4769 Mt. Carmel Road, Lancaster, South Carolina, pled guilty to Forgery, no dollar amount, which carries a penalty of up to three years confinement and to Presenting a False Claim for Payment, less than $1,000, which carries a penalty of zero to 30 days confinement and/or a fine up to $500. Judge John C. Hayes, III of Lancaster County sentenced Moser on the Forgery charge to one year suspended to six months probation and on the Presenting a False Claim for Payment charge to 30 days suspended. The sentences will run concurrently.

The defendant was originally charged with Forgery no dollar amount, and Presenting a False Claim for Payment over $5,000.

Moser reported that a burglary occurred at her residence in Lancaster County on February 5, 2007. She submitted an inventory loss form to Nationwide Insurance for over $9,000 in losses to include furniture, appliances and electronic equipment. An investigation revealed that the retail stores indicated on the loss form did not sell the items listed as stolen in the insurance claim. A majority of the items listed as stolen were found at Ms. Moser’s daughter’s home.

Ms. Moser also submitted a police report to Nationwide Insurance during the claims process. On that report was a handwritten note to indicate other items were stolen that were not listed on the report. This note was signed, Captain Andy Rollins of the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office. Captain Rollins confirmed that he did not write the note. The original police report does not contain this note.

This case was prosecuted by the South Carolina Attorney General's Office.

The South Carolina Insurance News Service reports a few interesting facts related to insurance fraud:

• Insurance fraud costs nearly $120 billion a year, with healthcare fraud at $85 billion a year and property and casualty insurance fraud at $30 billion a year, according to the Insurance Information Institute.
• Each year consumers spend about $1,000 in total increased insurance premiums, taxes and cost of goods and services according to the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud.
• There were 712 complaints of insurance fraud reported to the South Carolina Attorney General's Insurance Fraud Division in 2007. There were 94 criminal convictions and 72 civil remedies.
• The total amount of insurance fraud reported to the South Carolina Attorney General's Insurance Fraud Division in 2007 was nearly $8.4 million.
• Cases have come from all around the state of South Carolina and break down by region as follows:
Piedmont - 28% (115)
Low Country - 24.5% (100)
Pee Dee - 24.5% (100)
Midlands - 23% (95)
• The South Carolina Insurance Fraud Hotline 1-888-95-FRAUD is available toll-free, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• Insurance fraud can be "hard" or "soft." Hard fraud occurs when someone deliberately fakes an accident, injury, theft, arson or other loss to collect insurance money illegally. Soft fraud occurs when someone inflates a claim or underestimates the number of miles driven on an insurance application.

Report Insurance Fraud to the South Carolina Insurance Fraud Hotline 1-888-95-FRAUD - All reports remain confidential.