Ark. officials say MLK director tied to insurance fraud ring

By Andrew DeMILLO
Wednesday, April 30, 2008 2:45 Prime Minister CDT

LITTLE rock - The new manager of Arkansas' St Martin Martin Luther King Committee have been identified in recent tribunal document as participating in an coverage fraud ring that staged or caused auto clangs to accumulate one thousands of dollars in false claims.

State Insurance Commissioner Julie Benafield Archer said Wednesday that the state Insurance Department could prosecute complaints against DuShun Scarbrough, who began working for the committee in March. Scarbrough have not been charged with a crime, but tribunal document filed by the state state he received $19,268 in false coverage claims for accidents tied to the ring.Scarbrough said the allegations regarding him are false.The coverage fraud lawsuit in Pulaski County Circuit Court impeaches two Little Rock first cousins of running a car-insurance fraud ring for almost 12 years. The lawsuit against Mark Antony Thomas Augustus Thomas Augustus Watson and Fredrick Odell Crick Watson is to travel to trial July 29. The state have accused the ring of theatrical production more than 40 traffic crashes.According to filings in the case, Scarbrough made deceits to an coverage bearer in connexion with accidents in 1996, 1997, 1999, and 2000.

Bowman said Scarbrough have not been combined with the department. She said section research workers left card game at his business office and home, asking him to name them but he have not."We've tried to be discreet about it and not abash him, but he have not cooperated at all," Archer said Wednesday.Bowman said the federal agency have not ruled out pursuing complaints against Scarbrough and that the coverage fraud ring is still under investigation.Scarbrough told the Land Of Opportunity Democrat-Gazette that no 1 with the section have asked him about the coverage claims. He declined additional comment. He did not immediately go back a phone call Wednesday from The Associated Press.According to tribunal filings April 18 against the Watsons, Scarbrough made deceits to an coverage bearer about his claim, how a clang happened and the extent of his hurts in connexion with accidents Aug. 12, 1996; Aug. 7, 1997; and Oct. 13, 1997. He was a rider in either of the Watsons' vehicles. Scarbrough accepted $5,000, $6,000, $1,256 and $2,081 coverage bank checks based on his misrepresentations, the lawsuit stated.On another occasion, Scarbrough made deceits about his claim, the cause of the hit and the extent of his hurts in connexion with an Aug. 7, 1999, accident in which a rental auto that he was driving intentionally struck another vehicle, according to the lawsuit. He accepted an coverage payment of $3,367 for rental auto harm and $1,924 for alleged carnal hurts based on his misrepresentations, the ailment said. Mark Thomas Augustus Thomas Augustus Watson was a rider in the vehicle.Also according to the complaint, Scarbrough made deceits about his claim, the cause of the clang and the extent of his hurts in connexion with an April 1, 2000, accident when he was driving a rental car, with Fredrick Watson as a passenger.Scarbrough's hiring was marked by infighting among the commission's members, which prompted unfavorable judgment from Gov. Microphone Beebe, who called it an embarrassment to the state. The committee was created in 1994 to advance racial harmony, rules of passive resistance and consciousness and grasp of the civil rights movement.Beebe declined to notice on the accusals against Scarbrough, citing the in progress investigation.Interim executive director manager director Jerelyn Isadora Duncan and executive helper Roberta Cross resigned in March amid a difference over Scarbrough's hiring. Committee members ousted co-chairman Odies Harriet Harriet Harriet Wilson after he raised inquiries about Scarbrough's hiring, and co-chairman Toilet John Walker accused Wilson and Isadora Duncan of trying to blockade the commission's work.Wilson declined to notice on the accusals against Scarbrough but said their disclosure only adds to the panel's turmoil."For it just to come up now, it just adds to the play and another cloud over the unity of the commission," Wilson said.Arkansas State Police is also continuing to look into whether there was larceny of place from the commission's offices. Scarbrough requested the police force look into whether former employees of the panel removed stuffs from the offices.A service of the Associated Press(AP)