Seven suspected members of an alleged insurance fraud ring were arrested Wednesday on numerous charges including first degree arson, Georgia Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens said.
A joint investigation by the Georgia Department of Insurance’s Fraud Division and Fire Investigation Unit found that six Colquitt County residents and a Clayton County woman allegedly staged numerous fires, residential burglaries and automobile vandalisms with the sole intent to commit insurance fraud for financial gain, Hudgens said.
Ricky Lewis Forrest, 26; KaNaya McGee, 35; Diana McGee, 55; Cachea Jones, 25; Shikia Latimore, 21; and Lvariaus King, 24, all of Moultrie, Ga., were arrested and booked into the Colquitt County Jail. Doris Ann Buie, 49, of College Park, was also arrested and being held in the Clayton County Jail.
Hudgens said the investigation revealed that between January 2013 and December 2015, the suspects staged more than 24 incidents and received claim settlements from Allstate, Assurant, GEICO and Georgia Farm Bureau insurance companies totaling $392,000.
In addition to arson, each suspect is being held on charges of insurance fraud, theft by deception, identity fraud, forgery and making false statements.
“Not only did these individuals endanger the lives of others by setting fires,” Hudgens said, “they also committed insurance fraud, a crime that costs Georgians thousands of dollars each year.”
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