Verizon Exec Charged In Insurance Scam

Apparently deciding that contractual fine print, extortionate termination fees, and less-than-promised coverage was not quite enough, a Verizon sales executive launched an insurance fraud attempting to collect on multiple claims for an engagement ring that was never actually stolen, police in California said.

Marcus Darryl Williams, 39, of Los Angeles, formerly with Verizon, “was trying to get $400,000 for a ring he had in his possession,” said Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna, according to the Associated Press.

Williams originally claimed that the ring, valued at around $70,000, had been lifted from his backpack in his office at Verizon. But when he made at least four insurance claims, of $100,000 each, on the supposedly pilfered diamond – providing conflicting stories of how it was taken – his trail was picked up by the National Insurance Crime Bureau. After questioning, police said, the ring “miraculously reappeared.” Arrested March 12, Williams has been charged with five felony counts of making false or fraudulent claims.

“We are aware of this matter which is unrelated to our company,” Verizon spokesman Jon Davies told The Orange County Register. “It’s up to the justice system to determine guilt or innocence.”