Woman charged in furry friend insurance fraud and forgery case
June 5, 2024 (DENVER) – Attorney General Phil Weiser has charged a former Colorado Springs woman for allegedly submitting false and altered invoices to her pet insurance company in support of fraudulent claims for veterinary care.
Leah Angelita Valentine, 45, who now lives in Oklahoma, is accused of submitting multiple false claims to Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company in 2021 for veterinary care for her dog, Pepper, and her cat, Janet. While her pets received some veterinary care from clinics in Colorado Springs, Valentine allegedly submitted invoices in support of her claims, some altered and some completely fabricated, with inflated amounts.
After identifying what they believed to be fraudulent invoices in one of Valentine’s claims, Nationwide found other suspicious claims and flagged them for further investigation. After conducting their own internal review, Nationwide referred the case to the Financial Fraud Unit in the Criminal Justice Section of the Colorado Department of Law under suspicion of fraud. A subsequent investigation by the department determined there was cause to charge Valentine.
“When people engage in insurance fraud, we all pay the price through higher premiums and increased enforcement costs to taxpayers,” Weiser said. “Everyone should know that insurance fraud is a crime. Whether it’s a false claim about your dog or anything else, if you attempt to defraud your insurance company, you are barking up the wrong tree.”
In total, Valentine is alleged to have filed five fraudulent insurance claims worth approximately $5,000. She faces 10 counts of insurance fraud, a class five felony, and five counts of forgery, also a class five felony.
The case was filed on May 10 in El Paso County Court, case number 2024CR1793.
The filing of criminal charges is a formal accusation that an individual committed a crime under Colorado law. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Consumers who suspect insurance fraud, or any other type of fraud or scam, are encouraged to file a complaint with the attorney general at StopFraudColorado.gov.
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