Cedar Rapids man receives deferred judgment for forging pet insurance claim

Trish Mehaffey, The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, IowaGazette

Nov. 25—The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.

Article was corrected and updated from earlier version

CEDAR RAPIDS — The City of Cedar Rapids' housing and nuisance manager pleaded guilty last week for submitting a forged receipt for pet medications to an insurance company and received a deferred judgment Tuesday.

Greg Buelow, 53, pleaded last Thursday to tampering with records, an aggravated misdemeanor. In his written plea, Buelow admitted "I did falsify, destroy, remove or conceal a writing or record with the intent to injure, deceive or to conceal a wrongdoing."

Buelow received a deferred judgment and "probation monitored for compliance" on Tuesday, according to an order by 6th Judicial District Judge Michael Harris.

Under a deferred judgment, a defendant enters a guilty plea but the judge defers conviction if probation is successfully completed and the case can be expunged.

The other charges of insurance fraud — presenting false information, a Class D felony, and forgery, an aggravated misdemeanor, were also dismissed Tuesday, as part of the plea agreement.

According to the plea, Buelow will also pay restitution to Nationwide Insurance. That amount will be determined later.

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.

The case was investigated by the Iowa Insurance Fraud Bureau.

Buelow was 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 is paid administrative leave as the housing and nuisance manager in the Building Services department.

Buelow has been employed by the city since 1995 in various departments.

Trish Mehaffey covers state and federal courts for The Gazette.

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