Pilot who destroyed luxury goods to defraud insurers is going to prison
Theodore Wright and his co-conspirators allegedly destroyed planes, vessels and a Lamborghini for insurance proceeds.
This story is reprinted with permission from FC&S Legal, the industry’s only comprehensive digital resource designed for insurance coverage law professionals. Visit the website to subscribe.
A 33-year-old pilot, formerly of Kemah, Texas, has been sentenced to federal prison in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
Restitution & federal prison
Theodore Robert Wright, III, pleaded guilty on December 7, 2017, to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit arson and now has been sentenced to 65 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Ron Clark. Wright also was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $988,544.83.
Related: Texas woman heading to prison for burning down house for insurance money
According to information presented in court, Wright led a multi-jurisdictional fraud and arson scheme that spanned from Hawaii to the Gulf of Mexico and involved the destruction of various luxury goods, including vehicles, aircraft and vessels.
Insurance coverage in amounts exceeding purchase prices
Prosecutors asserted that Wright and his co-conspirators, Shane Gordon and Raymond Fosdick, both of Houston, and Edward Delima, of Honolulu, Hawaii, acquired luxury goods and obtained insurance coverage for those goods in amounts exceeding their purchase prices. Wright and his co-conspirators then devised and carried out schemes to destroy those goods and defraud insurance companies, according to the government.
Prosecutors said that the various assets destroyed in the scheme included a 1966 Beechcraft Baron, a 2008 Lamborghini Gallardo, a 1971 Cessna 500, and a 1998 Hunter Passage. The Beechcraft Baron made an emergency landing in the Gulf of Mexico, sank in deep water and was not recovered.
Related: Classic cars and claims fraud
The Lamborghini Gallardo crashed into a ditch full of water, causing the vehicle to flood. The Cessna 500 was completely destroyed when Fosdick set it on fire at Wright’s direction at an airport in Athens, Texas.
Fraudulent insurance claims filed
The Hunter Passage sank in a marina in Hawaii. Fraudulent insurance claims were filed in relation to each of these incidents.
Wright and his co-defendants also filed a fraudulent $1 million personal injury lawsuit related to the crash in the Gulf of Mexico. The suit was settled for $100,000.
On May 17, 2017, Wright, Gordon, Fosdick, and Delima were charged with various offenses related to their conduct in the scheme in the Eastern District of Texas. Wright’s co-conspirators have all pleaded guilty.
Delima pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud and was sentenced to a five-year term of probation. Fosdick pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud and conspiring to commit arson and on January 24, 2018, was sentenced to 39 months in federal prison.
Gordon pleaded guilty to making false statements to a federal agent and was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $440,000.
Related: Winning the war on insurance claims fraud
Steven A. Meyerowitz, Esq., is the director of FC&S Legal, the editor-in-chief of the Insurance Coverage Law Report, and the founder and president of Meyerowitz Communications Inc. Email him at smeyerowitz@meyerowitzcommunications.com.