Former NFL Player And Claims Adjuster Charged With $1.5M Insurance Fraud

SACRAMENTO, Calif., April 12 -- The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California issued the following news release:

Marcus Buckley, 42, of Weatherford, Texas, and Kimberly Jones, 47, of Wichita, Kan. formerly of West Sacramento, Calif., were charged by a federal grand jury in Sacramento with wire fraud and money laundering associated with a $1.5 million scheme to defraud a Sacramento business, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

Both defendants were charged with five counts of wire fraud, and Buckley was charged with six counts of money laundering.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney S. Robert Tice-Raskin is prosecuting the case.

According to the indictment, Buckley played professional football in the National Football League between 1993 and 2000 for seven seasons with the New York Giants. During this time period, the Giants had workers' compensation insurance coverage through Pennsylvania Manufacturers' Association Insurance Group (PMA).

From September 2001 through August 2011, Jones was employed as a Senior Claims Representative, or claims adjuster, at Gallagher Bassett Services Inc. in its Sacramento office. Gallagher Bassett was a third-party administrator that managed, among other things, workers' compensation claims in California on behalf of PMA.

According to the indictment, between September 2010 and June 2011, Buckley and Jones devised and participated in a scheme to defraud Gallagher Bassett of more than $1.5 million in connection with disability-related insurance payments. In 2006, Buckley filed a worker's compensation claim against the Giants for cumulative stress injuries sustained while playing football, in part, in California. During the first week of November 2010, Buckley, the Giants, and PMA settled the Buckley claim for $300,000. After his claims had been settled, however, between late 2010 and June 2011, Buckley prepared false and fictitious invoices and statements from medical providers for medical services purportedly provided to him from 1999 through 2003. He also prepared false and fictitious credit collection notices from collection agencies purportedly seeking payment for past due medical bills, with services dates from 1999 through 2010. Buckley sent the false and fictitious invoices, statements and credit collection letters to Jones who had Gallagher Bassett checks made payable to Buckley. In total, Buckley received more than $1,588,000 to which he was not entitled, and used it for various personal expenses.

Jones made her initial appearance in Wichita in the United States District Court for Kansas and was released on a $25,000 bond. She was ordered to appear for arraignment in Sacramento on May 3, 2013, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kendall J. Newman.

Buckley is expected to make his initial appearance in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas within the next two weeks.

If convicted, the defendants face a maximum statutory penalty for each count of mail fraud of 20 years in prison and a fine of twice the gain or loss, or approximately $3 million. The maximum statutory penalty for each count of money laundering is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

The charges are only allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

TNS-AD130413-4294394 StaffFurigay