Virginia woman to spend two years in prison for insurance fraud

RICHMOND, Va. — As a result of a three-year investigation by the Virginia State
Police Insurance Fraud Unit, a Virginia woman will have to spend the next 25
months in prison and pay more than $100,000 in restitution for selling nonexistent
insurance policies.

In February 2009, the VSP received a notification from the Bureau of Insurance
(BOI), a division of the State Corporation Commission (SCC), alleging Mae Anne
Fattaleh, 40, of Schuyler, Va., was selling insurance policies that never existed. She
received payments from policy holders for bogus insurance.

Fattaleh was the owner and operator of M.A.S. Insurance Services, Inc. and M.A.S.
Insurance Agency, which were licensed at that time by the BOI to sell insurance in
Virginia. The businesses had offices in the Charlottesville area. Fattaleh was
arrested in August 2009, and charged with four counts of Obtaining Money by False
Pretense.

While out on bond, in January 2011, Fattaleh was again arrested on other insurance
fraud-related charges including Attempting to Obtain Money by False Pretense and
Bad Checks. In neighboring Nelson County, Fattaleh was also charged with
numerous counts of Credit Card Theft.

Following a three-year investigation by VSP Senior Special Agent Fred L Solomon
Jr., Fattaleh was tried in the Circuit Court of the City of Charlottesville, convicted of
four counts of Obtaining Money by False Pretense and sentenced to a total of 23
years in prison, with all but 25 months suspended. The case was prosecuted by
Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Claude V. Worrell, II, City of Charlottesville.
In addition to the 25 months in prison, Fattaleh also has to make restitution to her
victims in the amount of $114,009.45 and pay court costs of $2,108. When she is
released from prison, Fattaleh faces spending the rest of her life on supervised
probation.

The VSP is committed to “Stamp Out” insurance fraud occurring in the
Commonwealth. If you have knowledge of a fraudulent insurance scheme or
suspect you may have been the victim of insurance fraud, report the activity to
Virginia State Police Insurance Fraud Program on the insurance fraud hotline at 1-
877-62FRAUD (1-877-623-7283) or visit StampOutFraud.com. You can also
find us on Facebook and YouTube. Tipsters will remain anonymous and may also be
eligible to receive a reward of up to $25,000.