Insurance fraud is a blanket term that can cover a wide variety of crimes, from burning down your own house to filing false health insurance claims. Insurance fraud can be prosecuted as either a state or federal crime, depending on the circumstances.

Recent South Carolina insurance fraud cases illustrate the variety of allegations that can lead to insurance fraud charges. A recent federal case involved a former Spartanburg man charged with defrauding church workers out of their health insurance premiums. William Madison Worthy pleaded guilty to diverting more than $2.5 million in insurance premiums to fake bank accounts that he had established for the purpose.

A recent state case involved nine people accused of staging accidents to obtain benefits. The charges allege that the accused operated a fraud ring in and around Polk County, committing crimes such as obtaining or attempting to obtain property by false pretences, operating an ongoing criminal enterprise, felony conspiracy, insurance fraud,

Cases such as these can also involve charges that are not specific to insurance fraud. For example, William Worthy was charged with violating the terms of his bond and was jailed after being accused on contacting a witness at his trial.

Other examples of insurance fraud charges include Medicare and Medicaid fraud, submitting fraudulent claims to private insurance companies, making false statements to obtain state or federal insurance benefits, kickbacks and many other schemes that could lead to state or federal insurance fraud charges.

Source:Charleston Post-Currier, "Plea deal entered in fraud case", by John McDermott, Oct. 20, 2011.