SoCal Residents Charged With Filing False Dismemberment Claims
By Associated Press - April 6, 2006LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Four Southern Californians have surrendered to face charges that they filed false dismemberment claims that cost insurance companies more than $1.8 million, authorities said.
Wanda and Willie Cleveland, a married couple from Whittier, and brothers Farrell Cobbs of Victorville and Wade Cobbs III of Los Angeles, turned themselves in on March 22, California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi announced Tuesday. The state Attorney General's Office charged them earlier in March with 58 felony counts including insurance fraud, grand theft and tax fraud.
The case began in July 2003 when Willie Cleveland, 50, filed a claim with UNUM Insurance Company, stating that he had accidentally amputated a thumb and forefinger while using a band saw, according to Garamendi's office. The claims examiner had recently approved payment for a separate claim after Cleveland said he had lost an eye when a radiator cap exploded in his face.
UNUM investigators determined that both claims were alleged forgeries and referred the case to the California Department of Insurance's Fraud Division.
An investigation revealed that the Clevelands and Cobbs brothers bought dismemberment policies from several insurance companies and allegedly filed false claims. Other alleged victims include American Reliable Insurance Company, the Hartford and First Fortis Life Insurance Company, according to Garamendi's office.
Wade Cobbs and Wanda Cleveland were released on March 29 without having to post bond. Farrell Cobbs and Willie Cleveland also were released without bond but were ordered to wear electronic monitoring devices around their ankles.
The various defendants face from five to 27 years in prison if convicted of all counts.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 25.
None of the defendants has a listed telephone number. | 
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