The alleged victims shared tales of misfortune on the surface but investigators say what they all had in common was fraud. The alleged victims from “staged” accidents were part of a sophisticated and elaborate scheme involving 22 people who defrauded insurance companies out of more than $6 million dollars. The fraud happened between 2013 and 2017, reached into 4 states, 17 insurance companies, 8 banks and 10 luxury cars. When they weren’t crashing cars into each other they were on the water wrecking boats.
Always at the so called “mishaps” was the 57 year old ringleader William Oldham Mize of Spokane, WA who was able to get his wife and children involved in the con. Prosecutors say many of the staged accidents featured the same basic plot where Mize was in the driver’s seat and he would plow into a second vehicle at a remote location and a third car would drive him away from the scene before emergency responders arrived. To make things more authentic Mize would inflict injuries on other members of the ring so they would appear legitimate in ways we are unwilling to share here.
Mize has pleaded not guilty. Many of the accomplices have pleaded guilty to mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy. In one of the cases the plea agreement from Bonnie Bonney recounted her husband was dying of cancer and they were going to stage an accident that would kill her husband prompting an insurance windfall. The husband refused to go along with that before his passing. The most recent case was 44 year old Stephanie Block who will be sentenced on charges of mail fraud and conspiracy. Her fraud allowed her to make off with $257,000!
Frauds of this manner cost actual victims of real accidents and cost drivers money due to increased insurance premiums and can even cause a delay in care for those who are legitimately injured. GB Legal applauds the efforts of the El Dorado County District Attorney, Sacramento County District Attorney, The California Highway Patrol and investigators from the insurance companies involved.
We represent people who are injured because of the careless and reckless acts of others. At the end of the day your case can only be settled one time and you need to know all of the facts beforehand. The reason that insurance companies have paid our clients in excess of $130,000,000.00 is that we get the facts and are not intimidated at the prospect of going to trial when they refuse to follow the law. We help with serious issues that require serious representation. We are the Law Offices of Guenard & Bozarth. We have almost 60 years of experience in our plaintiff’s only law firm. Call GB Legal 24/7/365 at 888-809-1075 or visit www.gblegal.com We Can Help!
