June Freeman fraudulently obtained dividends using her mother's name and got the insurance company to make payments on a Dodge Neon by faking the signatures of six Anchorage doctors and nurses, the charges against her claim.
Freeman faces 43 counts in two cases, according to documents filed at the Anchorage District Court early this month. All the charges are felonies and carry a maximum of five years in jail and a fine of $50,000.
Lesa Johnson, administrator for the Alaska Spine Institute, where some of the doctors work, said that in the 16 years she has worked there, she has never seen a patient violate the trust of so many doctors on such a scale. "It doesn't happen very often. Not to this extent," she said.
Charging documents say that Freeman purchased the Dodge Neon from an Anchorage dealer, then bought an insurance policy from American National Insurance stating that if she were to become disabled and unable to work, the insurance company would pick up her loan payments from month to month.
"She must know how to do insurance billing; apparently she was doing it right," said Roy Herold, an Eagle River doctor who treated Freeman. "June is a very intelligent, nice person, and very skilled at fooling folks."
In a separate case, Freeman was charged with faking her mother's signature on Permanent Fund applications for 2003 through 2005. Her mother had moved out of state and was no longer eligible.
Permanent Fund division chief investigator Dan Boone said, "It started out to be one of those cases where she was squeezing out extra money, and then one thing led to another and it snowballed."
Freeman, who is out of jail on bail, did not return phone calls Thursday afternoon. Her mother, reached in Arizona, said her daughter was a single mother of two and was being unfairly charged. "My daughter is not completely innocent, I'll be the first to admit that, but she's no ax murderer," she said. "This is over the top."
Assistant attorney general James Fayette said, "White collar crime is a big problem that often goes undetected and doesn't get seen in court. In this case, Ms. Freedman ran up against some pretty motivated investigators."
Fayette said authorities are investigating Freeman's role in the sale of a friend's home. Freeman had the power of attorney in the sale, and the friend claims Freeman misled her, Fayette said.
Freeman has no prior felony convictions. Charging documents list a previous record of misdemeanors including charges of prostitution, larceny, shoplifting and making a false report.
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