By Ann Zaniewski
Timmica Morton allegedly offered drivers a good deal on auto insurance.
But the policies — and her promises — turned out to be phony, according to the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office.
Morton, 40, of Detroit, a former Wayne State University employee who is accused of using the school’s computers in the crimes, was arraigned this week on charges related to selling more than 300 fake Ameriprise auto insurance policies to drivers, authorities said.
Sheriff’s Office spokesman Dennis Niemiec said the victims, lured by the promise of cheap rates, gave Morton down payments ranging from $30 to $300. He said Morton sent insurance applications to Ameriprise that had real information about the victims, such as their names, and real routing numbers but fake check numbers.
Officials at Ameriprise noticed and contacted the Sheriff’s Office.
"There was a dramatic spike in the new business policies that had bad banking information," Niemiec said. "They normally get two to three a month. They were seeing 70-80 per month, between May and July of this year."
Niemiec said Morton used computers at Wayne State to access the insurance policy applications. Matt Lockwood, director of communications for the university, said Morton also used her own laptop and tapped into the university’s Wi-Fi system, which is how authorities were able to trace her.
Lockwood said Morton worked part-time as a student assistant in the Environmental Health and Safety department but is no longer employed there.
"When we found out about this, we did an investigation to make sure there was no inappropriate behavior" related to her job at the university, he said. "There was nothing inappropriate related to her job activities."
According to the Sheriff’s Office, Morton was arraigned Tuesday in 36th District Court on felony charges of using computers to commit a crime; possession and sale of stolen/counterfeit certificates of insurance; false pretenses with intent to defraud or cheat, and fraudulent acts involving insurance. She also was charged with being a habitual offender.
Niemiec said Morton was given a $50,000 bond with the option to post 10%. She was still in jail late Thursday. No defense attorney was listed in court records.
Niemiec said most victims were from Detroit. Drivers from Oak Park, Lincoln Park, Dearborn Heights, West Bloomfield, Grosse Pointe and Highland Park also bought fake policies, the Sheriff’s Office said.
One woman told police she put $175 down for a policy for her son and expected monthly payments of no more than $200. But the first bill she received was for $800, Niemiec said.
"We’re tired of good citizens being victimized by crime," Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon said. "In this case, a lot of people were scammed. Fortunately, with some good police work we were able to stop this scam from spreading."
source: Detroit Free Press
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