Two Arrests Made In $120 Million Insurance Fraud Scheme

The Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office, Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office, Hall County Sheriff’s Office, Dekalb County Sheriff’s Office, and California Department of Insurance assisted with the arrest and extradition of these individuals, who are to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Atlanta, GA – Agents in the Fraud Investigations Division at the Georgia Department of Insurance assisted the California Department of Insurance and the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office this morning with the arrests of two individuals involved in an insurance fraud scheme stretching all the way to California. It is estimated that the scheme totals $120 million in losses.

The following individuals were arrested by agents in the Fraud Investigations Division this morning:

·      Wesley Bernard Owens, 47, of Suwanee, GA – Arrested on 6/13 in Gwinnett County
– 6 Counts of Insurance Fraud, 6 Counts of ID Fraud, 2 Counts of Felony Theft, 2 Counts of Forgery, 1 Count of Operating an Unlawful Insurance Business, 1 Count of Conspiracy to Commit a Crime (RICO) – 18 total

·      Beau Eric Wilson, 34, of Gainesville, GA – Arrested on 6/13 in Hall County
– 13 Counts of Felony Theft, 6 Counts of Insurance Fraud, 6 Counts of ID Fraud, 2 Counts of Forgery, 1 Count of Operating an Unlawful Insurance Business, 1 Count of Conspiracy to Commit a Crime (RICO) – 29 total

Owens is the CEO of Bison Workforce Solutions and Bison Data Systems which are both based in Gwinnett County. A search warrant was executed in May of 2017 at the businesses in coordination with the California Department of Insurance. After processing data and conducting interviews, the California Department of Insurance moved forward with the case.

Owens and Wilson allegedly created fake certificates of insurance claiming large groups of agricultural workers were insured when they were not. The certificates claimed the workers were temporary office staffers. The scheme collapsed when injury claims coming into California were not paid because there was never insurance on the workers to begin with.

Agents also attempted to serve an arrest warrant at the home of Ronda Nicole Taylor, 48, of Stone Mountain this morning as she has 21 outstanding warrants for being involved in the scheme. However, Taylor was not home at the time. A fourth suspect was also arrested in Florida.