Four Famous Insurance Scams 

By Annette Cashatt

1) In 2002, John Darwin was reported missing after failing to show up for his job and a search took place. He had last been seen in his canoe on the coast of the North Sea, but rescue searchers only found a wrecked canoe and a paddle. Not long after, a death certificate was issued for him and his wife collected enough life insurance money to pay off their 130,000 pounds they owned on the mortgage and leave over 25,000 left over. 

The catch: John Darwin lived beside his wife for seven years after his untimely “death”. He hid out in their house and also stayed at a neighboring unit they owned. This worked up until someone overheard the couple talking on the phone one day and became suspicious. When police investigated, the lies unraveled. 

2) In the mid 1970s, a rash of horse insurance fraud occurred. Several horses were insured for thousands of dollars and then mysteriously turned up dead. An animal rights activist, Helen Brach, realized what was going on and blew the whistle.

The catch: Unfortunately, instead of coming to terms with their fraud, it is suspected that one of the horse racketeers murdered Helen Brach. Nobody was ever officially convicted of killing her, however, and her body has not been found. One of the racketeers, and coincidentally Helen’s friend, was charged with conspiring to murder her and of defrauding her; his name is Richard Bailey. Bailey is currently serving his term in prison. 

3) Currently, there is an FBI hunt on for Dr. Gautam Gupta. He is facing multiple allegations of health insurance fraud, all of which carry some serious jail time.

The catch: The health insurance fraud is to the tune of about $25 million dollar and Dr. Gupta has yet to be found. They say he charged Medicaid and various insurance companies for unnecessary procedures as well as made-up procedures.  

4) Tired of paying for your car? Well, if you’re not afraid of breaking your ethics, losing your job, and going to jail, then you could always exchange good grades for your students torching your car.  This is what happened to Tramesha Fox when she offered an A+ if her students would set her Malibu on fire for the car insurance.

The catch: Basically, don’t ask teenagers to set fire to your auto and don’t expect them to stay quiet if they do. Tramesha was sent to jail for three months and also lost her job.