THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 11, 1995 TAG: 9503110274
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: PHILADELPHIA LENGTH: Short : 37 lines
Two Hampton Roads men, charged in connection with an insurance fraud scheme that bilked subscribers in 26 states of more than $1 million, entered guilty pleas Thursday.
Edward Zinner of Virginia Beach and Mark Waldron of Portsmouth entered the pleas in U.S. District Court.
Zinner, 35, pleaded guilty to one count each of racketeering and forfeiture. Waldron, 38, pleaded guilty to wire fraud.
Two other men charged in the scheme, Jeffrey C. Neal, 45, formerly of Virginia Beach but now living in Maryland, and William E. Moulton Jr., 59, of Virginia Beach previously pleaded guilty to similar charges.
The federal government had charged that the men marketed and administered the two fraudulent employee health insurance schemes, the Atlantic Plan and the American Plan, that received more than $12 million in subscriber premiums from November 1990 to this year.
The four men failed to pay health care claims, leaving beneficiaries with unpaid medical bills. The government said they also stole funds held in trust to pay benefits and used them for personal debts, entertainment expenses, no-interest loans and personal lines of credit.
Zinner, founder of a rock band named Southern Legends, allegedly hired band members as full-time insurance employees, then diverted their services to help build his restaurant, The New England Lobster and Clam House on Shore Drive in Virginia Beach.
KEYWORDS: FRAUD by CNB