Jan 19, 2005 By Patty Yauger 3 min read

Two cases involving a Connellsville physician and former officials of the Isabella Volunteer Fire Department are being recognized on a list of the most dangerous, elaborate and deplorable schemes to defraud insurance companies and Pennsylvanians in the past year. The list, released Tuesday by the Pennsylvania Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority (IFPA), includes the case against former doctor Mark Fremd, who was convicted of exchanging sex for prescription drugs, and four firefighters that schemed to destroy the Isabella department’s social hall in order to construct a newer gathering place.

Roy Miller, executive director of the IFPA, said the authority was created by the state Legislature in 1994 to assess the insurance industry, doing business in the state for funds that are then earmarked for fraud investigations by the state attorney general’s office, municipal police departments, state police and district attorney’s offices.

“The units that we fund are doing very well,” he said, pointing to more than 340 arrests and 230 convictions made by those receiving authority funding in 2004.

The attorney general’s office conducted the investigation into the Fremd case, while the Philadelphia Field Division of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) oversaw the Isabella fire department investigation and prosecution.

“If you pay insurance premiums, you are a victim of insurance fraud. Some people think of it as a ‘victimless’ crime, but insurance fraud costs everyone, and some schemes such as arson or staging an auto accident can put innocent people in physical danger,” said Miller. “This list shows that efforts across the state are ensuring many of those who commit fraud are not getting away with it, but serving jail time and paying heavy fines for their crimes.”

Each year, said Miller, the IFPA publishes the list to heighten public awareness of fraud.

Fremd, 49, is serving 18 to 36 months in a state prison for allegedly giving patients narcotics with the understanding that they would sell them, and bilking insurance companies for medical procedures that he never performed.

In the arson case, Isabella fire chief Steven Dugan, 26, was sentenced to 35 months in prison for his role in a scheme to torch the social hall, while his brother-in-law, Thomas Baker, 31, was sentenced to five years after pleading guilty to mail fraud and aiding the arson. Jerry Booker II, 21, the department’s former vice president, also received a five-year sentence for his involvement. William A. Robinson, 23, a former department trustee who pleaded guilty to mail fraud for his role in filing the false insurance claim, was sentenced to 30 months in prison.

On the Web: Pennsylvania Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority: www.helpstopfraud.org.