Defendants Arrested in Staged Accident Conspiracy

DALLAS—Four Dallas/Fort Worth-area residents, charged in a six-count indictment with various offenses related to their running a staged accident scheme, have been arrested, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas.

The indictment, unsealed late Friday, charges Kara Lashon Collins, 35, and her husband, Frenchitt Su-Dell Collins, 41, Allen Murray Robison, 31, and Stephanie Denise Moses, 44, each with one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and health care fraud. In addition, the indictment charges Kara and Frenchitt Collins each with three counts of mail fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft. Stephanie Moses is also charged with one count of mail fraud. Kara Collins, Alan Robison, and Stephanie Moses have been released on bond; Frenchitt Collins remains in custody.

According to the indictment, since 2006 the defendants ran a conspiracy to defraud various insurance companies, including Hartford Lloyds Insurance Company, Travelers Insurance, GEICO Insurance Company, Nationwide Insurance Company, 21st Century Insurance Company, and Farmers Insurance Group of Companies, which resulted in them being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars based on fraudulent claims.

As part of their scheme, according to the indictment, the defendants recruited individuals to claim they had been involved and injured in staged automobile accidents. They obtained insurance both on vehicles used in the accidents—sometimes using salvaged vehicles—and on the individuals allegedly driving the vehicles.

The defendants also allegedly created numerous fictitious chiropractic clinics to generate fraudulent medical records and bills to submit with the automobile insurance claims. They submitted fraudulent insurance claims to numerous private-pay property and casualty insurance carriers and caused these insurance carriers to settle accidents claims based on their submission of false and fraudulent property damage and personal injury medical records and bills. The defendants cashed the settlement checks and distributed the funds among themselves.

An indictment is an accusation by a federal grand jury, and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty. If convicted, however, the conspiracy count and each of the mail fraud counts carry a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Each of the aggravated identity theft counts carries a mandatory two-year prison sentence and a $250,000 fine. Restitution could also be ordered. The indictment also includes a forfeiture allegation which would require the defendants, upon conviction, to forfeit to the U.S. all property derived from proceeds traceable to their offenses.

The case is being investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen P. Fahey is in charge of the prosecution.