In a calculated scheme to defraud insurance companies, two Iredell County residents now face criminal charges for their roles in what authorities are saying was a planned vehicular charade. Alyssa Cheyenne Woolledge, 30, of Troutman, and Michael Anthony Brown, 43, of Mooresville, were both reprimanded by the justice system, having been taken into custody for concocting a car crash designed to illegitimately draw funds from insurance coffers.
The staged accident took place back on February 11, the purported efforts of Woolledge and Brown uncovered by the North Carolina Department of Insurance’s Criminal Investigations Division, investigators charged them with their respective felonies; Woolledge is specifically answering to one count of insurance fraud, while Brown is on the hook for the same, plus an additional count of obtaining property by false pretense— the duo's failed gambit now presenting them as avatars of an age-old grift.
A report from the North Carolina Department of Insurance states that Woolledge was booked into custody on May 1 and released on a $10,000 secured bond, appearing in Iredell County District Court the day following; Brown, arrested on May 7, was released on a $3,000 secured bond and appeared in court on May 8. The strain their alleged actions place upon the boots-on-the-ground folks looking for a fair shake from their insurance providers is not insignificant; it is a heft felt in the dollars and cents of those far removed from the fraudulent scene.
Mike Causey, North Carolina’s Insurance Commissioner, made his stance abundantly clear on the matter, stating that “Insurance fraud hits consumers in the wallet,” underscoring a message to the community that such deceit inflates insurance premiums—raising costs by as much as 20 cents on the dollar, his department’s vigilance aimed squarely at countering this trend by "aggressively pursuing and prosecuting insurance fraud in North Carolina.” For those who suspect insurance fraud or other white-collar crimes, there's a pathway to report; one can dial the Department of Insurance Criminal Investigations Division at 919-807-6840 or toll-free within the state at 888-680-7684, anonymity is an available option for whistleblowers, as per the North Carolina Department of Insurance.
