Dallas Fort Worth Insurance Lawyer Blog
When an insurance company denies your claim, you need to immediately hire an Experienced Insurance Lawyer. The insurers are always looking for a reason to deny a claim but there are also times when it is justified.
While there are many times the denial of a claim is not justified, there are also times when it is justified. The Insurance Journal published a story in October 2018, that illustrates why they have to investigate claims. The story is titled, “Texas Pilot Who Crashed Plane For Insurance Sentenced To Prison For Fraud Scheme.”
The story tells us that a pilot from Kemah, Texas, was sentenced recently to more than 5 years in prison and ordered to repay almost $1 million in an insurance fraud related case.
Thomas Robert Wright III had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit arson and among other things, he admitted that he intentionally crashed a plane in the Gulf of Mexico in 2012 and recorded the event on an iPad.
According to law enforcement, Wright and three co-conspirators operated a multi-jurisdictional fraud and arson scheme that spanned from Hawaii to the Gulf of Mexico and involved the destruction of various luxury goods, including vehicles, aircraft and vessels.
The group would acquire luxury goods, insure them for more than they paid for them, and subsequently destroy the items in order to reap insurance proceeds.
Some of the assets destroyed included a 1966 Beechcrat Baron, a 2008 Lamborghini Gallardo, a 1971 Cesna 500, and a 1998 Hunter Passage. The Beechcraft made an emergency landing in the Gulf of Mexico, sank in deep water and was not recovered. The Lamborghini crashed into a ditch full of water, causing the vehicle to flood. The Cesna was completely destroyed when one conspirator set it on fire at Wright’s direction at an airport in Athens, Texas. The Hunter Passage sank in a marina in Hawaii.
Fraudulent insurance claims were filed in relation to each of these incidents. Wright and his co-defendants also filed a fraudulent $1 million personal injury lawsuit related to the crash in the Gulf of Mexico. The suit was settled for $100,000.
Wright’s co-conspirator’s have also all pleaded guilty and received sentences.
The cases were investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the FAA Law Enforcement Assistance Program, the Texas Department of Insurance, and the National Insurance Crime Bureau.