MINNESOTA – A woman who falsely claimed that her former husband died and collected more than $2 million in life insurance was charged with concealing a crime, officials said.
Irina Vorotinov, 48, was charged with defrauding Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company for more than $2 million in life insurance proceeds by falsely claiming that her former husband died.
Her son, Alkon Vorotinov, 25, is charged with actively concealing the fraudulent scheme.
Irina Vorotinov was charged by criminal complaint with mail fraud, and her son was charged with having knowledge of the actual commission of a felony and concealing the crime.
Assistant U.S. Attorney David J. MacLaughlin, who is prosecuting the case, said: “Fraud against insurance companies drives up the premiums paid by legitimate insureds. Those who cheat insurance companies should expect to be investigated, prosecuted, and held accountable for the economic harm inflicted on those who deal honestly with the insurance industry.”
These are the facts and circumstances surrounding this criminal complaint:
- On April 22, 2010, Igor Vorotinov purchased a life insurance policy on his own life from Mutual of Omaha, and listed the Vorotinovs as the beneficiaries.
- On October 1, 2011, police in Moldova received a phone call reporting a dead body at the entrance of the Cojusna village in central Moldova.
- Documents recovered from the body, including a passport, hotel cards, and contact phone numbers, identified the man as Igor Vorotinov.
- Irina Vorotinov traveled to Moldova to identify the body. Along with Igor’s cousin and a representative from the U.S. Embassy, Irina Vorotinov went to the morgue where she identified the body as Igor.
- At Irina Vorotinov’s request, the body was cremated on October 20, 2011, in Odessa, Ukraine. Irina Vorotinov returned to Minnesota on October 29, 2011, and filed a death claim with Mutual of Omaha on November 7, 2011.
- Mutual of Omaha paid Irina Vorotinov $2 million in the form of a check sent on March 23, 2012, to Irina’s home in Maple Grove, Minnesota.
- The Vorotinovs opened an account at a local branch of U.S. Bank and deposited the check.
- Between March 29, 2012 and January 2015, the Vorotinovs transferred more than $1.5 million of the life insurance proceeds to accounts located in Switzerland and Moldova.
According to the evidence, officials said that on November 27, 2013, Alkon Vorotinoz was stopped by Customs and Border Protection in Detroit, Michigan upon returning from a trip to Moldova.
A computer seized by Border Protection agents contained digital photographs of Igor Vorotinov taken on April 19, 2013 and on May 12, 2013, in which Igor is alive.