Dive Brief:
- A Georgia roofing contractor was arrested on charges of felony insurance fraud and second-degree criminal damage to property after he allegedly damaged a homeowner’s roof so that he could make money on the repairs, the Insurance Journal reported. He faces a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
- According to Georgia Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens, contractor Anthony Christopher Bernardo was hired to inspect a roof, allegedly caused "significant" damage to it, and then solicited the homeowners with a proposal to perform repairs with the end goal of submitting a fraudulent insurance claim.
- The home, under contract for sale, had been inspected three days before Bernardo examined it, and the first home inspector did not note any damage to the roof.
Dive Insight:
"Insurance fraud doesn’t only hurt homeowners who have legitimate roof damage claims, it makes everyone’s premiums go up," Hudgens said in a statement.
Officials have been cracking down on contractor fraud affecting homeowners recently. Louisiana contractor Tanweer Bhatti was recently arrested for residential contractor fraud and theft of assets of aged persons after several of Bhatti’s elderly customers filed police complaints that Bhatti took their money and performed substandard work.
In another case of fraud, a Connecticut contractor, Pablo Miraballes, was sentenced to two years in jail for stealing more than $36,000 from an elderly couple under the pretense of helping them complete a renovation on their home.
