Original Blog Entry: Man fakes amputation for insurance money

truesee — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 02:26:18 GMT

Amputation faked for insurance money

Ty Czarnopis Managing Editor of Upper Michigans Source

08.19.2011 at 11:54 AM

Not LeDuc's only crime

MARQUETTE, MI -- An Escanaba, Michigan man, 33-year-old Michael Earl LeDuc, was sentenced for wire fraud to 57 months in jail, according to U.S. Attorney Donald A. Davis.

In August of 2010 LeDuc filed a claim to his insurance agency, CUNA Mutual Group, that he lost his arm to a wood chipper.

LeDuc had purchased an accidental death and dismemberment insurance policy the previous year, and would have received a payment of $251,000 if the claim had gone through.

In order to file the claim, LeDuc received his own medical records from OSF Saint Francis Hospital in Escanaba, then forged records to prove that he had lost his arm.

After LeDuc sent the forged documents to CUNA, he made several follow-up calls across state lines about the status of his claim, which led to a federal wire fraud charge.

LeDuc pled guilty to the charges, and admitted to several other crimes.

- Filing a false insurance claim with the Standard Insurance Company of Portland, OR, in which he claimed to have suffered serious head injury.

- Filing a number of false insurance claims with AFLAC.

- Selling an ATV on eBay for $1,500, and then keeping the money, but not delivering the ATV.

- Buying gasoline for his gas station from Oasis Fuel, Servco FS, Garrow Oil Propane and Murphy Oil Company using bounced checks, forged letters of credit, and a variety of fraudulent statements.

U.S. District Judge R. Allan Edgar stated that LeDuc's criminal history placed him in the highest classification available for the crimes he committed. Judge Edgar sentenced LeDuc on the high end of sentencing guidelines for his crimes.

During his plea agreement, LeDuc agreed to pay full restitution for the losses he caused in committing these crimes.

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