Fraud News: Chiro Bribes Cops, Pilot Videos Water Landing, Arson
Missouri Chiropractor sentenced in Police Bribery Scheme
A St. Louis, Mo., chiropractor has been sentenced to 30 months in prison and fined $350,000 for a scheme that involved bribing police officers to get information used to solicit clients.
Mitchell Davis was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court. He pleaded guilty in December and has paid $696,000 in restitution to 12 insurance companies that overpaid for unnecessary and unauthorized services.
Federal prosecutors say Davis and his wife, Galina Davis, used nonpublic information from St. Louis police accident reports to solicit clients. Mitchell Davis pressured some clients into exaggerating symptoms to increase insurance payouts.
Galina Davis and two former police officers have pleaded guilty and await sentencing. Two other former officers are awaiting trial.
Investigators say the officers earned $5 to $15 for each report illegally provided to the couple.
Texas Pilot Gets More Than 5 Years in Insurance-Linked Fraud
A Texas pilot who survived a 2012 Gulf of Mexico crash and videotaped his time in the water must serve more than five years in prison and repay nearly $1 million for insurance-related fraud.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Monday that Theodore Robert Wright III must report to prison Nov. 8.
Wright last December pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud and conspiring to commit arson. He was sentenced Oct. 4 in Tyler. Three co-conspirators received prison or probation for the scam to buy planes, boats and cars, then destroy the vehicles for insurance.
Wright in October 2012 appeared on NBC’s “Today” show to describe the crash off Louisiana during a flight from Baytown, Texas, to Sarasota, Florida.
He’s a native of Port Kent, New York.
Man Accused of Arson, Fraud Found Competent for Trial
An Ohio man accused of setting his house on fire in 2016 has been ruled competent to stand trial.
The Hamilton-Middletown Journal-News reports a Butler County judge on Tuesday found Ross Compton capable of standing trial after a psychological evaluation.
The 60-year-old Middletown man whose arrest was based partly on pacemaker data has pleaded not guilty to aggravated arson and insurance fraud charges. Authorities say Compton’s cardiac device showed data inconsistent with actions he reportedly took during the fire, including throwing belongings out a window and carrying them to his car.
Compton’s attorney said he isn’t withdrawing a motion for a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. That motion states Compton reportedly has a history of mental illness and cardiovascular disease that reduced oxygen levels to his brain.