Indiana pastor arrested on insurance fraud charges
Reprints
It could be argued the Ninth Commandment — thou shalt not lie — applies to insurance fraud.
Or at least it may apply to a former Columbus, Indiana, minister arrested Friday after police allege he staged a burglary for insurance money, according to media reports.
Columbus police officers told reporters that minister Justin White in December claimed that $11,000 worth of items had been stolen from his Columbus home while he was preaching a sermon at First Christian Church just before Christmas.
According to insurancefraud.org, he claimed that thieves got away with electronics, jewelry, and appliances — even his young daughter's piggy bank.
Just after the staged burglary, Mr. White spoke to television reporters, saying: "My son looked up and saw that our TV was gone and he said we've been robbed … Then we started walking through the house and we realized they had taken so much."
Local media outlets reported that the community collected donations for the family.
Meanwhile, four days after the alleged burglary, police tracked down the underage minor who allegedly broke into the home — and that’s when the story unraveled, according to media outlets.
Read Next
-
Parents spammed by charter school texts fight back
School choice doesn’t include the option of unlimited text messages, and it could end up costing one charter school operator in Tennessee upward of $12 million.
