Georgia Accuses Pair Of WTC Insurance Scam

By Staff Writer

November 28, 2001 at 07:00 PM

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NU Online News Service, Nov. 28, 2:15 p.m. – Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John Oxendine and Pike County Sheriff Jimmy Thomas say a couple has been arrested and charged with insurance fraud after allegedly filing a fraudulent claim related to the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York.

Charles Allen Gavett, 44, and his wife Cynthia S. Gavett, 40, of Concord, Ga., were arrested Monday evening and charged with one count of insurance fraud, a felony under Georgia law, Oxendine says.

Oxendine alleges that Gavett submitted a claim to Minnesota Life Insurance Company stating that his wife had a 9 a.m. Sept. 11 appointment with a financial services firm in the WTC. Gavett initially notified Minnesota Life Sept. 29 via electronic mail and followed up with a telephone call to the insurance company Oct. 2, the commissioner says.

While processing the paperwork and attempting to confirm the death, Minnesota Life learned that Cynthia Gavett was alive, and that a sheriff's deputy had seen her as recently as Nov. 18, Oxendine alleges.

Felony insurance fraud in Georgia carries a penalty of two to 10 years in prison or a fine of up to $10,000, Oxendine says.

The Gavetts do not have a telephone number listed in the Concord area and could not be reached for comment.

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