Ring Reported Lost Leads to Fraud Count
Police arrested a Ventura woman suspected of bilking her insurance company out of $17,000 for a ring she never lost, authorities said Thursday.
Melissa Marie Pierson-Forgie, 36, was arrested this week and charged with one count of insurance fraud. She is accused of falsely reporting the loss of a $17,000 wedding ring in 1993, Ventura Police Det. Jeff Killion said.
In April 1995, Pierson-Forgie reported that the ring she bought as a replacement had been stolen and pawned by her brother, Killion said. After a six-month investigation, police concluded that the ring, recovered at a pawn shop, was the same one she claimed she lost in 1993.
Pierson-Forgie is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in Ventura County Municipal Court.
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