Cedar Rapids man pleads not guilty to submitting forged pet insurance claim

Trish Mehaffey, The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, IowaGazette

Oct. 9—The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.

CEDAR RAPIDS — The city of Cedar Rapids' housing and nuisance manager, accused of insurance fraud for submitting a forged receipt for pet medication prescriptions, pleaded not guilty this week.

Greg Buelow, 53, was charged last month with insurance fraud — presenting false information, a class D felony, and forgery and tampering with records, both aggravated misdemeanors. The tampering charge was added after his arrest on Sept. 10.

A judge, during Buelow's initial appearance last month, set a $5,000 cash only bail, which Buelow paid pending trial.

He pleaded not guilty in a written arraignment filed Monday and his trial is set for Feb. 10 in Linn County District Court.

According to the criminal complaints, Buelow provided false information to an insurance company for a pet insurance claim. The submitted falsified invoice for reimbursement, purportedly issued by a veterinary clinic, was for prescription medications for his dog. The incident happened June 2, the complaint stated.

The complaints don't include the amount of false reimbursements.

This case was investigated by the Iowa Insurance Fraud Bureau.

Buelow is being prosecuted by the Johnson County Attorney's Office. Sixth Judicial District Senior Judge Paul Miller granted a request by Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks to appoint a special prosecutor for the case to avoid any conflict of interest.

According to the city's Human Resources Department, Buelow remains a current employee as the housing and nuisance manager in the Building Services department. He has been employed by the city since 1995 in various departments.

If convicted, he faces up to nine years in prison.

Trish Mehaffey covers state and federal courts for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com