Amount: $31,000

 A New Jersey man has been convicted of insurance fraud and attempted theft by deception in connection with submitting false insurance claims. On June 1, the fraudster was found guilty for falsely filing a claim with his insurance company, Liberty Mutual, seeking $31,500 for reimbursement of living expenses that he accumulated while his home was being treated for mold. The fraudster submitted two checks to the insurance company that he had written to his girlfriend for rent to stay at her home during the mold removal. The amount the fraudster was paid, $1,500 per day for twenty-one days, was based on the amount of the checks. The investigation revealed that the girlfriend never cashed the checks.

 Additional living expense, also known as ALE, is part of an insurance policy where the insurer puts the insured up in a place to live and provides extra expenses during a period of time when an insured can't live in their house. ALE is a growing area of insurance fraud, particularly after huge natural disasters that displace insureds, such as the hurricanes and fires during the 2017 disaster season. Although most people who use this feature of their insurance policy are submitting true claims, some individuals choose to defraud the system and use it to benefit themselves.