A fugitive accused of staging automobile accidents in a multimillion-dollar fraud case spanning 5 states has lastly been caught in Florida after 4 years on the run.
William Mize, 62, was arrested in a Jacksonville marina on Tuesday after being indicted in 2018 on fraud fees that resulted in insurance coverage corporations paying out greater than $6 million.
Expenses in opposition to him embody wire fraud, conspiracy to commit well being care fraud, cash laundering, and conspiracy to commit each wire and mail fraud, stated the U.S. Marshals in a launched assertion.
Mize and 21 others, together with his spouse Sandra Victoria Talento, have been indicted in 2018. Nonetheless, he disappeared in 2019, inflicting a halt in his court docket proceedings.
‘This man sees himself as like a godfather of a white-collar crime household,’ a deputy marshal instructed 8 Information Now in 2021. ‘Everyone has to obey him, or there’s gonna be penalties.’
Mize, Talento, and their relations have been a part of a long-running scheme between 2006 and 2017, staging automobile accidents throughout 5 states for insurance coverage payouts, in line with the U.S. Marshals.
William Mize, 62, was arrested in a Jacksonville marina on Tuesday after being indicted in 2018 on fraud fees that resulted in insurance coverage corporations paying out greater than $6 million
Mize (pictured center), his spouse Sandra Victoria Talento (left), Mize’s nephew Ryan Park, Park’s spouse Kimberly Rita Boito (proper), and others have been indicted in 2018
Mize, Talento, and their relations have been a part of a long-running scheme between 2006 and 2017, staging automobile accidents throughout 5 states for insurance coverage payouts
The group arrange greater than 33 automobile incidents to gather insurance coverage funds and faked accidents and signs to pursue as a lot medical care as potential, the Federal Bureau of Investigation stated in 2019.
Others concerned within the ‘white-collar crime household’ embody Mize’s nephew Ryan Park and Park’s spouse Kimberly Rita Boito, who have been sentenced to 19 months and ten months respectively.
Talento obtained the harshest time period – 70 months – after she used completely different names to play victims in staged accidents and pleaded responsible to fees together with mail fraud, wire fraud, and well being care fraud.
The U.S. Marshals Service supplied a $2,500 reward, which was elevated to $10,000, for data resulting in his arrest after he went on the run in 2019.
Mize was later noticed coming into and exiting a liquor retailer in Henderson, Nevada. The fugitive, recognized for his lavish life-style and boating passion, gave the impression to be dressed as if prepared for a ship trip.
‘Mize stayed on the run till the U.S. Marshals lately developed a lead indicating he was nonetheless residing life on the water, lastly finding and arresting him at a marina in Jacksonville, Florida,’ the U.S. Marshals stated.
He now faces fees of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit well being care fraud, cash laundering and conspiracy to commit each wire and mail fraud.
‘William Mize was a fugitive who thought that as a result of he had monetary means, he may keep away from apprehension and flout the rule of regulation,’ stated Craig Thayer, U.S. Marshal for the Japanese District of Washington.
‘As evidenced, that is clearly not the case. Regardless of the sources they’ve or the place they run to, the U.S. Marshals won’t ever cease within the pursuit of a fugitive till they’ve been delivered to justice.’
Mize was later noticed coming into and exiting a liquor retailer in Henderson, Nevada
He now faces fees of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit well being care fraud, cash laundering and conspiracy to commit each wire and mail fraud
Mize was the ‘artist of harm’ in staged accidents involving his spouse, youngsters and nephew, revealed by a New York Journal’s investigation final 12 months.
Months upfront, he deliberate schemes by buying a used luxurious automobile for one in all his co-conspirators and secured insurance coverage with excessive limits — a $100,000 payout per particular person, $300,000 per accident.
He would use a razor or a field cutter to chop the actors’ hairlines, making certain that actual blood would circulation and splash convincingly in strategic locations.
‘That was his largest factor,’ his nephew Park stated. ‘Blood. Blood. Blood.’
Along with this grotesque technique, he went as far as to gather the accomplices’ urine and pour it over their garments, faking the scene as if that they had misplaced consciousness throughout these ‘accidents.’
Most of those staged incidents occurred at night time, when there have been no witnesses or surveillance cameras.
After being despatched to hospital, actors would declare that they had insurance coverage however did not have their member playing cards at hand. They might normally return to pay their payments in money for a reduction.
Mize would pose because the sufferer’s consultant underneath a faux title to the insurers of these performing as liable for the accident.
He’d negotiate a settlement with the at-fault insurance coverage firm, showing to save lots of the corporate from a possible lawsuit.
Typically, he added claims of misplaced revenue and property damages and altered the payments to greater with scissors and replica machines.
‘I believe it was the hustle, the facility, the management,’ Park instructed the outlet. ‘I believe possibly he bought off on the truth that here is these multibillion-dollar firms that he’s simply twirling round by their nostril.’
Mize’s spouse Talento (proper) obtained the harshest time period – 70 months – after she used completely different names to play victims in staged accidents and pleaded responsible to fees together with mail fraud, wire fraud, and well being care fraud
Mize (second left) is pictured together with his daughter Angela, his son Will, his nephew Ryan, and Ryan’s mom within the Nineteen Nineties
Mize allegedly referred to himself as Robin Hood, taking from insurers and sharing the earnings with ‘the poor.’
The substantial fortune and greater household clan led to a broader vary of staged accidents, together with accidents on boats and stair falls till 2018.
The FBI obtained a search warrant in Could 2018 and a federal jury indicted Mize and 21 accomplices on a complete of 101 counts of cash laundering and fraud.
Mize pleaded not responsible to 87 counts in 2019, earlier than the court docket launched him on an unsecured bond with out location monitoring.
He by no means returned and had gone on the run for 4 years.
‘The little godfather that he pretended to be?’ Ryan stated. ‘He was no godfather. He snitched on everybody.’
Talento, who had been sentenced to just about six years, filed a divorce lawsuit in opposition to Mize in September, 2021.
