Iowa man jailed for insurance fraud against State Farm
Iowa man jailed for insurance fraud against State Farm | Insurance Business Canada
Insurance News
Iowa man jailed for insurance fraud against State Farm
Disaster-related insurance fraud followed 2018 tornado and 2020 derecho
Insurance News
By
Jen Frost
A Marshalltown, Iowa man has been sentenced to 21 months in prison after pleading guilty to disaster-related insurance fraud crimes against insurer State Farm.
Timothy D. Sletten, 32, engaged in schemes to defraud State Farm following the EF-3 tornado that hit Marshalltown in 2018 and the 2020 derecho disaster, according to a press release from the US Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Iowa.
In the wake of the 2018 tornado, Sletten, who pleaded guilty to insurance fraud crimes, engaged in two separate schemes to defraud State Farm, the insurer of his multiple residential properties. As part of the schemes, Sletten presented false invoices to claim benefits.
Iowa man bagged $180,000 from State Farm insurance fraud
State Farm paid Sletten loss claim benefits totaling more than $180,000 as a result of the insurance fraud. However, following the 2020 derecho, State Farm opened an investigation into Sletten that led it to deny payment of his disaster-related claims.
Further, after serving prison time he will be required to serve three years of federal supervised release.
The case was investigated by the Marshalltown Police Department and the Iowa Insurance Fraud Fund Bureau, with Assistant United States Attorney Laura M. Roan having prosecuted the case.
The Marshalltown derecho, which hit in August 2020, brought 99mph winds to the town just two years after the EF-3 tornado wreaked havoc, the Des Moines Register has reported.
“I imagine we certainly are looking at another year, two years, five years, eight years, something of that effect, to take care of everything that was impacted by the derecho,” Nickel reportedly said.
Marshalltown insurance producer received suspended sentence last year
In a separate case, last February former Iowa insurance producer, Oscar Sanchez, also of Marshalltown, received a suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to three counts of insurance fraud.
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