U.S. Attorney's Office for the District Eastern Washington issued the following announcement on Jan. 22.
William D. Hyslop, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced that Teresa Ann Gonzalez, age 63, of Otis Orchards, Washington, and Michael Adam White, age 40, of Las Vegas, Nevada were sentenced for their respective participation in an insurance fraud scheme involving staged accidents. Chief United States District Judge Thomas O. Rice sentenced Gonzalez to a 10-month term of imprisonment and White to a 14-month term of imprisonment, to be followed by a 3-year term of court supervision after each is released from federal prison. Chief Judge Rice also ordered Gonzalez to pay restitution in the amount of $13,132 and forfeiture of $13,132, and White to pay restitution in the amount of $50,000 and forfeiture of $50,000. Gonzalez pled guilty in June 2019, to one count of mail and wire fraud conspiracy. White pled guilty in June 2019, to one count of mail and wire fraud conspiracy and four counts of mail fraud.
According to information disclosed during court proceedings, Gonzalez was involved in one staged automobile accident in Spokane, Washington that defrauded an insurance company out of $236,324. Gonzalez received approximately $13,132 of the fraud proceeds. White was involved in four staged accidents that defrauded insurance companies out of approximately $1,085,392. White received approximately $50,000 of the fraud proceeds.
United States Attorney Hyslop said, “Staging phony car accidents on our streets poses a significant danger to innocent citizens and results in higher insurance premiums. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington, along with our federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement partners, will continue to investigate and prosecute aggressively those individuals who may perpetrate such fraud. I commend the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation and U.S. Marshals Service for their outstanding work investigating this case.”
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, U.S. Marshals Service and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington Criminal Healthcare Fraud Investigator, with assistance from the National Insurance Crime Bureau. This case was prosecuted by George J.C. Jacobs, III, and Brian Donovan, Assistant United States Attorneys for the Eastern District of Washington.
Original source can be found here.
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