Mass. Couple Charged in Glass-Eating Insurance Fraud

A Massachusetts man was arrested on charges that he, along with his wife, submitted false insurance claims that they had ingested glass found in food they had eaten at restaurants and grocery stores in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maryland and the District of Columbia.

The indictment alleges that from at least August 1997 through June 2005, Ronald and Mary Evano falsely claimed that various hotels, restaurants and supermarkets had served them food with glass particles. Although in some instances the Evanos may have actually ingested glass particles, those glass particles did not come from food served by the restaurants, hotels and supermarkets, according to the indictment. Rather, the Evanos intentionally ingested the glass particles and then falsely claimed that the restaurants, hotels and supermarkets had caused the particles to be in food that they were served, officials maintain.

U.S. Attorney Michael J. Sullivan and Kenneth Kaiser, special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation New England, claim that the Evanos submitted their various glass ingestion claims under a variety of identities, using false identification and false social security number information. Through their fraudulent scheme, they obtained in excess of $200,000 and incurred over $100,000 in medical bills, which are unpaid to date, according to Sullivan.

The prosecutors said they arrested a Ronald Evano, a/k/a “Robert Evano,” “Robert Dixon,” “Ron Stevens,” “Ronald Ross,” “Ronald Rose,” “Robert Reed,” “Alex Benton,” “Ron Evans” and “Donald Hill,” age unknown.

Mary Evano remains at large. She is said to have used other names including “Mary Evans,” “Lisa Benton,” “Mary Dixon,” “Nancy Stevens,” “Lisa Moore,” “Mary Reed,” “Nancy Dixon” and “Connie Hill”, age unknown.

The two are believed to have resided at various addresses in Massachusetts, Maryland and West Virginia.

The indictment charges them with conspiracy and multiple counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, identity fraud, social security fraud and false statements on health care matters.

If convicted on these charges, they face up to 20 years of imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and a $1,000,000 fine on each of the mail and wire fraud counts. They face up to 5 years of imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 on each of the conspiracy, social security fraud and false statement counts. They face up to 15 years of imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine on each of the identity fraud counts.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Massachusetts Insurance Fraud Bureau investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack W. Pirozzolo of U.S. Attorney Sullivan’s Economic Crimes Unit is prosecuting it.

The details contained in the complaint and in this announcement are allegations. The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Source: U.S. Attorney