January 13, 2015

Woman Charged for Scamming $2 Million Life Insurance Payout Based on Fake Death

United States Attorney Andrew M. Luger today announced a complaint charging IRINA VOROTINOV, 48, with defrauding Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company for more than $2 million in life insurance proceeds by falsely claiming that her former husband died. Her son, ALKON VOROTINOV, 25, is charged with actively concealing the fraudulent scheme. IRINA was charged by criminal complaint with mail fraud, and ALKON was charged with having knowledge of the actual commission of a felony and concealing the crime. Both defendants appeared today before Magistrate Judge Hildy Bowbeer in U.S. District Court in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Assistant United States Attorney David J. MacLaughlin, who is prosecuting the case, said: “Fraud against insurance companies drives up the premiums paid by legitimate insureds. Those who cheat insurance companies should expect to be investigated, prosecuted, and held accountable for the economic harm inflicted on those who deal honestly with the insurance industry.”

According to the criminal complaint and documents filed in court, on April 22, 2010, Igor Vorotinov purchased a life insurance policy on his own life from Mutual of Omaha, and listed IRINA VOROTINOV and ALKON VOROTINOV as the beneficiaries. On October 1, 2011, police in Moldova received a phone call reporting a dead body at the entrance of the Cojusna village in central Moldova. Documents recovered from the body, including a passport, hotel cards, and contact phone numbers, identified the man as Igor Vorotinov.

According to the criminal complaint and documents filed in court, IRINA VOROTINOV traveled to Moldova to identify the body. Along with Igor’s cousin and a representative from the U.S. Embassy, IRINA went to the morgue where she identified the body as Igor. At IRINA’S request, the body was cremated on October 20, 2011, in Odessa, Ukraine. IRINA returned to Minnesota on October 29, 2011, and filed a death claim with Mutual of Omaha on November 7, 2011. Mutual of Omaha paid IRINA $2,048,414.09 in the form of a check sent on March 23, 2012, by U.S. mail to IRINA’S home in Maple Grove, Minnesota.

According to the criminal complaint and documents filed in court, IRINA and ALKON VOROTINOV opened an account at a local branch of U.S. Bank and deposited the check, which they both knew to be the life insurance policy proceeds resulting from the death of Igor Vorotinov. Between March 29, 2012 and January 2015, IRINA and ALKON together transferred more than $1.5 million of the life insurance proceeds to accounts located in Switzerland and Moldova.

According to the criminal complaint and documents filed in court, on November 27, 2013, ALKON was stopped by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in Detroit, Michigan upon returning from a trip to Moldova. A computer seized by CBP agents contained digital photographs of Igor Vorotinov taken on April 19, 2013 and on May 12, 2013, in which Igor is alive.

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service—Criminal Investigation Division.

Assistant U.S. Attorney David J. MacLaughlin is prosecuting the case.

Defendant Information:

IRINA VOROTINOV, 50 Plymouth, Minn.

Charge:

  • Mail Fraud, 1 count

ALKON VOROTINOV, 25 Plymouth, Minn.

Charge:

  • Misprision of a Felony, 1 count