3 Separate Auto Fraud Scams Across the Country

A Colorado police officer indicted by a state grand jury was arrested on multiple felony counts for allegedly lying about his home and car being burglarized and collecting nearly $60,000 in fraudulent insurance claims.

The Aspen Daily News reports Silt Police Department Cpl. Michael Taylor faces charges of theft, insurance fraud and forgery after he allegedly filed false reports related to purported burglaries of his home and the valuation of jewelry that he said had been stolen.

Taylor’s attorney, Ryan Kalamaya, says Taylor denies the allegations.

Taylor remains on the force, and is on paid administrative leave and workers compensation leave after having his jaw recently broken during a response to an unrelated domestic-abuse incident.

Taylor is free after posting $5,000 bond and is due in court next month.

A Connecticut man originally from Haiti has been sentenced for his role in a scheme to defraud insurance companies through staged car crashes.

Jacques Fleurijeune was sentenced Monday in federal court in New Haven to five months in prison and three years of probation. Because he has already served the time, he was detained by immigration authorities.

Prosecutors say the 28-year-old New London man was part of a group of people who staged about 50 car crashes from 2011 through 2014. Many were single-vehicle accidents on remote roads with no witnesses other than the occupants of the crashed vehicle. They then filed fraudulent insurance claims, collecting from $10,000 to $30,000 per accident.

He pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in connection with one crash.

A former Louisiana police officer has pleaded guilty to his role in a vehicle fraud theft and insurance scheme.

Acting U.S. Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook, in a news release, said 52-year-old Donald W. Malray entered the plea Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Hornsby to one count of mail fraud conspiracy. The plea will become final when accepted by U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks Jr.

Hook’s office says Malray, a former Homer Police officer, and another person planned the scheme and then filed an insurance claim to collect the money on the allegedly stolen property’s value.

The insurance company paid the pair about $13,000.

Malray faces up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is set for Dec. 6.