MAR 01, 2019

Insurance fraud ring leader pleads guilty in multiple cases

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – March 1, 2019 - On February 28, 2019, Gregory Vaughn pleaded guilty to five counts of Presenting a False Claim for Insurance Payment, Value More Than $10,000.  As part of a plea agreement, he was sentenced to five years in prison, to run concurrently on all charges, by Judge Ralph Cothran in Clarendon County.  The case was investigated by Special Agent Joseph Neff of SLED and prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Savanna Goude.   

 

Vaughn was the ring leader of an insurance fraud ring operating in Sumter County.  He coordinated and staged five different incidents in Sumter County, one incident in Clarendon County, and two incidents in Lee County.  He conspired with 21 co-defendants to report accidents that did not occur or occurred intentionally.  He called insurance companies impersonating other co-defendants, submitted fraudulent medical bills that he prepared on behalf of other co-defendants, and even went to the hospital impersonating people who were not involved in the conspiracy.  The insurance companies involved paid out a total of approximately $174,000 on these false claims. 

 

Vaughn was not ordered to pay restitution because he will be serving the five years in the South Carolina Department of Corrections.  Other co-defendants have been ordered to pay their part of restitution, which ranges from $500 to $11,000. 

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