N.Y. Escort Service Operator Facing Sentencing for Insurance Fraud

An escort service operator who used female associates to stage auto accidents and collect on insurance claims faces five to 10 years in prison following his guilty plea Oct. 29 on two counts of felony insurance fraud, according to state officials in New York.

Officials said Thomas W. Boyde IV of Rochester is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Joseph Valentino on Nov. 27 in Monroe County Court. Indicted earlier this year, Boyde is being held without bail in Monroe County Jail.

Boyde was arrested after an investigation revealed that he fraudulently collected more than $50,000 in insurance payments following 13 staged traffic accidents. Investigators charged that he staged some of the accidents by having associates intentionally crash rental trucks into his vehicles. They said other accidents occurred when Boyde suddenly slammed on his brakes, causing unsuspecting drivers following him to crash into the rear of his car.

Boyde admitted that in one case he was driving his 1985 Cadillac when a vehicle driven by an escort hit it, as he had instructed her. “She rear-ended me and drove me into a tree,” he said.

Officials said the investigation resulted from an insurance company’s discovery of a link between Boyde and a woman who drove a U-Haul rental truck into Boyde’s car in Henrietta, Monroe County. She was later identified as his girlfriend. The disposition of charges against her and two others is still pending.

Source: New York State Insurance Department
Frauds Bureau