Colleton County Fire-Rescue
10/9/2008
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(http://www.scinsnews.com/index.php)
NEWS RELEASE Three Walterboro Residents Plead Guilty to Staging Accidents FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Allison Dean Love 803-252-3455 or cell phone 803-413-1044 _alove@scinsnews.com_ (mailto:alove@scinsnews.com) Columbia, S.C. – October 9, 2008 - Lynell Denise Manigo, 24, of 404 Witsell Street, #105, Walterboro, Jasmine Shantaye Fair, age 22, of 601 Greenpond Highway, #1G, Walterboro and Shakia Graham, 23, of 404 Witsell Street, #205, Walterboro, waived venue and pled guilty yesterday in the Jasper County General Sessions Court to the offense of Presenting False Claims for Payment more than $1,000 but less than $5,000 before The Honorable Carmen Tevis Mullen. All had originally been indicted in Colleton County with Presenting False Claims for Payment, $5,000 or more. Defendants Manigo and Fair presented false claims to Peak Property and Casualty Company when they reported they were involved in a car accident on Round O Road in Walterboro on February 18, 2007. Both confessed the wreck was staged. Defendant Manigo had a prior conviction for breach of trust. Judge Mullen sentenced her to five years imprisonment suspended with three years probation and ordered her to pay restitution of $2,664 to Peak Property and Casualty. Defendant Fair had a prior conviction for simple assault and was sentenced to three years imprisonment suspended with three years probation. She was also ordered to pay restitution of $1,364 to Peak Property and Casualty and approximately $72 to the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. Defendant Graham presented false claims to Peak Property and Casualty Company when she reported she was involved in a car accident on Cooks Hill Road in Walterboro on April 17, 2006. However, she confessed the wreck was staged. She had no prior criminal record and was sentenced to five years imprisonment suspended with five years probation. She was also ordered to pay restitution of $4,591.87 to Peak Property and Casualty and $1,066 to Colleton Fire-Rescue. These cases were investigated by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the National Insurance Crime Bureau. Over 20 other County Colleton cases involving staged wrecks are still pending. The South Carolina Insurance News Service reports a few interesting facts related to insurance fraud: ► Insurance fraud costs nearly $120 billion a year, with healthcare fraud at $85 billion a year and property and casualty insurance fraud at $30 billion a year, according to the Insurance Information Institute. ► Each year consumers spend about $300 per household just in additional insurance premiums, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau and about $1,000 in total increased insurance premiums, taxes and cost of goods and services according to the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. ► There were 712 complaints of insurance fraud reported to the South Carolina Attorney General's Insurance Fraud Division in 2007. There were 94 criminal convictions and 72 civil remedies. ► The total amount of insurance fraud reported to the South Carolina Attorney General's Insurance Fraud Division in 2007 was nearly $8.4 million. ► Cases have come from all around the state of South Carolina and break down by region as follows: ► Piedmont - 28% (115) ► Low Country - 24.5% (100) ► Pee Dee - 24.5% (100) ► Midlands - 23% (95) ► The South Carolina Insurance Fraud Hotline (1-888-95-FRAUD) is available toll-free, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. ► Insurance fraud can be "hard" or "soft." Hard fraud occurs when someone deliberately fakes an accident, injury, theft, arson or other loss to collect insurance money illegally. Soft fraud occurs when someone inflates a claim or underestimates the number of miles driven on an insurance application. Report Insurance Fraud to the South Carolina Insurance Fraud Hotline 1-888-95-FRAUD - All reports remain confidential. For more information on insurance fraud in South Carolina or for an interview call 803-252-3455 or e-mail alove@scinsnews.com. For more than 30 years, the South Carolina Insurance News Service, a nonprofit organization, has been providing free insurance information to consumers and the media about property and casualty insurance issues. The News Service is funded by insurance companies doing business in South Carolina. Allison Dean Love, API, MBA Executive Director South Carolina Insurance News Service 1301 Gervais Street, Suite 715 Columbia, SC 29201 803-252-3455 Cell 803-413-1044 _www.scinsnews.com_ (http://www.scinsnews.com/) Providing insurance information to consumers and the media for more than 30 years in South Carolina.
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