A Los Angeles County Sheriff's watchdog group says overtime cuts may be to blame for an increase in fraud allegations against deputies in the last year.
One deputy is accused of torching his own car for an insurance payout while another falsely reported a burglary at his home, according to a report by the Office of Independent Review. Another deputy had a fellow cop help him drive his car to Mexico, where he abandoned it and reported it stolen, the report states.
Two other deputies are facing federal charges in an alleged mortgage fraud scheme.
Michael Gennaco, who heads up the watchdog agency, tells the Los Angeles Times that although deputies receive relatively good pay and benefits, the crimes could reasonably be linked to overtime cuts since many had been accustomed to a standard of living that involved the extra money.
One deputy, who had been facing more than $3,000 in credit card debt and a "substantial mortgage," told investigators his car -- found torched in a field -- must have been stolen and filed an insurance claim, according to the report.
His insurance company later determined the car couldn't have been driven anywhere without the deputy's enhanced-security car key.
Cell phone records placed the deputy in the field, contradicting his alibi, leading him to be charged with arson, insurance fraud and several other felonies. The deputy was sentenced to six months in jail.
In another case, Deputy Eugene Peter Boese allegedly had a fellow law enforcement official follow him to Mexico and abandon his car before filing an insurance claim. Boese had received an estimate for the related damages three months before the supposed theft occurred, the report states.
He was charged with several felonies but eventually pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge, according to the report.
In another case, a rookie deputy called a friend at another agency and said his home had been burglarized but that he had already cleaned up the crime scene and only needed to fill out a police report, the report states. The deputy resigned and pleaded no contest to filing a false police report after his behavior prompted an investigation, the agency said.
Two other deputies are facing federal charges after they allegedly purchased homes with inflated loans and then sold the properties, receiving the difference between the sales price and the inflated loan amount. If convicted, one faces up to 45 years in prison and the other up to 105 years.
Read more - http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-sheriffs-deputies-overtime-fraud-allegations,0,3445145.story
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