(This story has been updated to include that Mountzoures turned herself into Davie County deputies.)
A Jonesville woman was charged in Davie County after state investigators said she defrauded an insurance company of over $100,000 by submitting forged insurance claims.
Melissa Lynn Mountzoures, 54, turned herself into to deputies on Wednesday, July 29, and charged with seven counts of insurance fraud, 17 counts of felony uttering a forged instrument, 17 counts of felony forgery and one count of felony obtaining over $100,000 worth of property by false pretenses.
Barry Smith, deputy director of communications for the N.C. Department of Insurance (NCDOI), confirmed that the department’s criminal investigations division began to look into the claims after Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina reported potential false claims.
During the investigation, warrants from the NCDOI stated that the department’s agents found 17 different claims by Mountzoures which stated that she had received treatment from four different medical providers. The claims totaled $123,056.27.
Smith said that only one of the listed doctors, Robert Barnabei, was a real person, while the other three, Karla Brookes, Steven J. Parkson and Jonathan McKee, were all false names. Smith said that while Barnabei was a real doctor, the address and information about treatment provided by Mountzoures on the claim was false.
DOI investigators did not find any evidence that treatment had been given, said Smith.
Smith...
(This story has been updated to include that Mountzoures turned herself into Davie County deputies.) A Jonesville woman was charged in Davie County after state investigators said she defrauded an ...