Fraud Ring Collected Nearly $1 Million, Authorities Say; Manhunt Continues

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November 19, 2008 Wednesday 04:37 PM EST

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Fraud Ring Collected Nearly $1 Million, Authorities Say; Manhunt Continues

Sean P Carr

ATLANTA

Arrest warrants have been issued for 19 suspects who allegedly engineered an insurance fraud conspiracy that collected nearly $1 million in misappropriated claims from Sompo Japan Insurance Company of America.

In custody is Ken Dewberry, 42, a former Sompo employee and the alleged ringleader of the scheme, said Wayne Whitaker, a spokesman for the Georgia Office of the Insurance Commissioner. Dewberry is charged with 30 counts of theft by taking, as well as federal racketeering offenses. An undetermined number of additional suspects are in custody while a manhunt continues for the remainder, Whitaker said.

Between March 1, 2001, and March 30, 2004 -- a time when Dewberry worked at Sompo -- a total of 473 checks totaling $995,641.75 were issued to 21 individuals. The suspects typically kept some money for themselves and passed the rest to the ringleader, Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine said. Dewberry's financial records showed approximately $154,000 in unexplained deposits during that time, the commissioner said.

"Someone at the Sompo Atlanta office was changing the names and addresses of vendors and then requesting and distributing medical claim checks to people that had not performed any services on the claimants," Oxendine said.

Sompo Japan Insurance Company of America currently has a Best's Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent).

Attempts to reach the company for comment were not immediately successful.

(By Sean P. Carr, senior associate editor, BestWeek: [email protected])

November 20, 2008