Attorney’s Insurance Fraud Trial Begins
A Beverly Hills lawyer who claimed that his yacht was pirated and damaged by drug runners off the coast of Italy years ago went on trial in Los Angeles federal court Wednesday on charges of insurance fraud.
Prosecutors allege that Rex K. DeGeorge, 65, fabricated the story to bilk Cigna, the vessel’s insurance carrier, out of $1.6 million.
They said that DeGeorge and two associates tried to sink the boat off the coast of Naples by boring holes in its hull.
DeGeorge’s lawyer said his client was wrongly accused by two co-defendants who pleaded guilty earlier and await sentencing.
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