Shooting frauds: A workers’ comp risk for insurers

Late one summer night near Caldwell, Idaho, Shannon Egeland stopped to help a pregnant woman stranded on a roadside – it was an ambush.

Someone snuck up from behind, knocked Egeland in the head and shot gunned him. The blast tore into Egeland’s legs. He suffered significant blood loss and shattered bones, forcing surgeons to amputate his left leg. Or so the former Idaho developer told his disability insurer.

Egeland actually had his teenage son Rylan blast him in his legs with a 20-gauge shotgun and then leave him lying by the roadside in a bizarre and bloody plot to steal disability money.

It’s a dangerous world out there. Fraudsters sometimes make the world seem even more dangerous by shooting themselves — or having a cohort pull the trigger — to steal workers’ compensation or disability benefits. The fraudsters gamble that self-shootings are so extreme and painful the investigators won’t question their stories.

However, that is a mistaken assumption. Investigators methodically cut through the gore, probing even the most extreme schemes to get to the truth. The plots often leave a bloody trail of red flags for investigators to follow.

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Samaritan fraud fizzles

Egeland invented the ambush to make a false disability claim in part to boost his sagging finances; however, the Samaritan scam fizzled. Fraud investigators soon saw through the ruse. The attack had no logic or motive — why did robbers leave his wallet, cellphone and fancy BMW behind?

Egeland also bought the death-and-dismemberment disability policy just a week before the shooting. Suspicious timing. Plus he lied on the insurance application. He also told Standard Insurance Company that he had had no arrests in the last 10 years when he actually faced federal sentencing for a $20 million mortgage fraud scheme in Oregon.

Finally, Egeland admitted everything. On top of the insurance con, Egeland hoped the setup shooting would delay his sentencing for the mortgage plot. The judge sentenced him to 10 years. Egeland later received nearly four years for the March 2018 insurance shooting.

“What bothers me most is my son. That’s what hurts,” Egeland said. “The pain that he has shouldn’t be there; it should be on me.”

Who shot the officer?

Los Angeles police officer Jeff Stenroos was patrolling the perimeter of a school when officers received word that a car-theft suspect with a ponytail had shot him.

Luckily his bulletproof vest stopped the bullet, but he said he was still hurt and in pain. However, the shooting never happened; he shot himself to fake a workers’ comp injury and get paid time off work.

Immediately after the shooting, hundreds of police officers were diverted from other vital duties during a massive search. Three schools were locked down for hours. More than 9,000 school kids had little food, water or access to toilets. Authorities locked down areas around the school, snarling traffic and disrupting people’s lives.

Stenroos tried to avoid talking with investigators. He got the basic facts wrong; first he said the guy fired one shot then later said it was several shots.

Stenroos was convicted of insurance fraud and other crimes. He was sentenced to five years in county jail but only served two years under the terms of his probation, which also included 400 hours of community service.

UPS driver shoots himself

Pierre Lamont Taylor worked for UPS and said he was shot in his right leg while being robbed on the job in the Rockville, Md. area.

Sporting a fresh bullet hole, Taylor filed a workers’ compensation claim with Liberty Mutual, which paid out a lump sum of $250,000. In reality, his cousin had pulled the trigger and received a share of the insurance money. They said they got the idea from a television show.

Taylor and his cousin, Joseph Francis Brooks, each received five years in prison (suspended) and five years of probation in a scheme that the judge called “one of the dumbest things” he had ever seen. The court also imposed a $250,000 judgment against Taylor.

In another case, a man wearing a lime-green jacket with NASCAR-type patches shot Brandon Richie while he was at work, according to what the Pensacola, Fla., paramedic told his employer. While doing paperwork in an ambulance, someone walked up and tapped him on the back before shooting him in the shoulder, lied Richie.

Deputies found Richie bleeding and took him to the hospital, unaware that he had actually shot himself. He received workers’ compensation payments until authorities discovered the truth. He received 36 months of probation.

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Dangerous police stops

Officer Bryan Eubanks said he pulled over a vehicle and spotted a mobile meth lab inside. The driver shot the Newcomerstown, Ohio, officer in the right arm and drove off in a black Geo Tracker, according to Eubanks. He filed the false worker’s comp claim following his treatment at the hospital.

Police mounted a statewide manhunt. Eubanks even named an innocent person as the shooting suspect. Police detained the man before realizing he was innocent and releasing him.

Apparently, policing stressed Eubanks to the breaking point, compelling him to shoot himself and file the false workers’ comp claim. The judge sentenced Eubanks to 90 days in jail and 500 hours of community service.

Following Eubanks’ shooting, his boss denounced the officer’s actions. “His actions were particularly appalling because he trivialized the real dangers Los Angeles police officers face every day,” said LAPD Chief Charlie Beck. “Assaults against officers are up, and for someone to turn that into a hoax is abhorrent.”

Dennis Jay (dennisjay@insurancefraud.org) is the executive director of the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud.

For more information on how insurers can identify fraudulent claims, join us at the America’s Claims Event in Austin, Texas, June 25-27.