Part 2: Capeless Crusader Wayne Goodwin Fights Insurance Fraud

The exploits of North Carolina’s Insurance Commissioner as crime fighter have been well-documented on this site and in other places, including countless news accounts and the official website of the Department of Insurance.

As a public service to those who join Wayne Goodwin in the never-ending battle for Truth, Justice and the American Way, here is a sample of insurance fraud cases closed in recent months by his team.

They include:

An agent who submitted false life insurance applications in Lenoir County

Two sisters, both of whom are insurance agents, who embezzled premiums in Durham

A Cary subcontractor who submitted a fraudulent certificate of insurance to a homebuilder

A Stanly County woman who exploited her grandmother for insurance money in Albemarle

A Greensboro insurance agent who also embezzled monies

A Burlington jewelry thief whose name - Minx VonParis DeMaxzmohr - is worthy of a James Bond villain

A car shop owner and customer in Martin County jointly conspiring to swindle insurance monies

"As our Insurance Commissioner and the elected head of a law enforcement agency, I take protecting consumers and fighting insurance crime very seriously,” said Wayne Goodwin. “It’s not about partisanship, but right versus wrong, justice versus the lawbreaker, and competence versus inexperience, as well as protecting State-based regulation for the benefit of consumers and small businesses each and every day.”

North Carolina’s Commissioner of Insurance and the Department of Insurance employ 20 sworn law enforcement officers dedicated to investigating claims of insurance fraud. So far in 2010, these criminal investigators have seen more than 268 cases successfully closed with more than $18.5 million in restitution and recoveries, 54 criminal convictions and 89 arrests.

An estimated 10 cents of every dollar paid in premiums goes toward the payment of fraudulent claims. To report suspected fraud, contact the Department of Insurance Criminal Investigations Division at 919-807-6840. Callers may remain anonymous. Information is also available at www.ncdoi.com.

Accordingly, the battle for justice and public security is never-ending. To do his part, it may be comforting to note that Insurance Commissioner Goodwin has already been described by an "Under the Dome" blogger for the Raleigh News & Observer in October 2009 as

"apparently an action hero, by elected-official standards."

And as every good action hero knows, it is a 24-7 job.