Akron Man and Barberton Woman Charged for Defrauding Insurance Company

CLEVELAND, Ohio, April 17 -- The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio issued the following news release:

Two people were charged in federal court with mail fraud for defrauding an insurance company.

Kifiyun Daniels, 32, of Akron, and Jessie Banks, 25, of Barberton, were both charged with one count of mail fraud.

Daniels made fraudulent claims to Asurion Insurance for the replacement of approximately 261 cellular phones between August 2015 and December 2017. Asurion sustained a loss of approximately $130,717, according to the information.

Banks made fraudulent claims to Asurion Insurance for the replacement of approximately 179 cellular phones between Novermber 2015 and May 2017. Asurion sustained a loss of approximately $110,174, according to the information.

Jody Foster, of Ravenna, was charged last week with one count of mail fraud for defrauding Asurioan out of $94,000.

Foster defrauded Asurion Insurance between 2012 and 2016 through the submission of fraudulent insurance claims to obtain money and property from Asurion. He paid individuals, known and unknown, to purchase new cellular telephones and enroll in cellular telephones service plans which included insurance coverage with multiple cellular telephone service providers. Then these individuals provided the newly purchased cellular telephones to Foster, according to the criminal information.

If convicted, the defendant's sentence will be determined by the Court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant's prior criminal records, if any, the defendant's role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.

The investigation preceding the indictment was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Henry F. DeBaggis.

An information is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government's burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.