One dead in house fire at home owned by local attorney Phil Ganong
A neighbor said she heard from a family member that Ganong's son, William, 35, died in the blaze. Local media also reported his death, however a coroner's release said the identity of a man who died is being withheld pending positive identification and notification of next of kin.
A pretrial hearing in the case is scheduled for Wednesday, according to the
The cause of the fire at
The blaze was the second fire at the property in eight months. A fire in September was determined to be accidental, said
Neighbors gave conflicting reports about the home's use. One woman said it was a sober living facility until a couple years ago while another said she believed it was still an active recovery home for women.
Bakersfield Fire reports said five people were in the home when fire broke out and fire crews arrived to find the home fully engulfed in flames.
The family also owned sober living homes in
Prosecutors allege both residents and non-residents of the homes were registered as employees of businesses the Ganongs operated, and the Ganongs expanded their health insurance policy to cover more than 100 employees. They then used another company to overbill insurance companies for the collection and testing of urine, which allegedly occurred frequently or on a daily basis.
Ganong and his wife face more than 47 years in state prison for 13 counts of insurance fraud and 26 counts of money laundering.
His son, William, could face more than 36 years in prison on 13 counts of insurance fraud.
The Ganongs have a history of family tragedy. In 1998, Ganong's 11-year-old son accidentally shot his sister to death, according to archived reports in The Californian. The boy, Joseph, had retrieved a gun from a desk in a guest house where the victim, 12-year-old Hannah, stayed with her 15-year-old sister, Emily. Joseph thought the gun wasn't loaded, but it contained six bullets, The Californian reported.
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