Kansas Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt, announced a Johnson County man has been sentenced to 24 months of probation for insurance fraud.
Dwayne Wright, aged 52, pleaded guilty on July 9, 2026, in Johnson County District Court to
two felony counts of insurance fraud. Wright filed multiple fraudulent claims for damaged and stolen materials while at various worksites and forged receipts to validate his fraudulent claims for the materials. He was sentenced on September 14, 2026, to 24 months of probation and ordered to pay $1,449.31 in restitution.
“Every time someone commits insurance fraud, it causes families and businesses across Kansas to pay more,” said Commissioner Vicki Schmidt. “The Department will continue to hold these individuals accountable.”
This case was investigated by the Kansas Department of Insurance and prosecuted by the Kansas Attorney General’s Office.
A Long Island contractor has been charged with workers’ compensation fraud that officials contend resulted in the underpayment of insurance premiums by more than $160,000.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced that Joseph Arthurs, of Patchogue, and his company, VGN Enterprise Corp., have been charged
with allegedly intentionally misrepresenting his company’s payroll, the number of employees, and the hazards of its work in asbestos removal to his worker’s compensation insurance company.
See more beautiful photo albums Here >>>
According to the investigation, in March 2023, Arthurs applied for a workers’ compensation insurance policy from Wesco Insurance Co. for coverage from April
2023 through April 2024, as required by New York law. Arthurs allegedly stated on the application that his company employed a full-time building service contractor as the sole employee with an annual payroll of $50,000.
Based on this application, the insurance company issued a policy for VGN with an annual premium of $4,203.
In September 2024, an investigation by the New York State Inspector General determined that Arthurs had obtained a state asbestos license/certification and filed multiple asbestos project notifications with the state labor department.
The filings allege that the company was engaged in a more hazardous level of asbestos abatement and therefore required workers’ compensation coverage classified for that type of work. The investigation also determined that VGN had employed a multitude of workers during the course of the year, with an annual payroll of $354,112.
As a result of these alleged misrepresentations, VGN significantly underpaid a total of $163,561.00 in insurance premiums on its workers’ compensation insurance policy.
