A woman and her father were sentenced to jail time Thursday for their involvement in an elaborate, $1.5 million insurance fraud scheme, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis announced.
Defendant Yolandi Kohrumel, 35 (pictured below), was sentenced to one year in jail after pleading guilty to insurance fraud, grand theft and perjury in connection with a scheme that lasted nine years. Her father, Anton Buitendag, 65, was sentenced to 180 days in jail in connection with the case.
According to prosecutors, Kohrumel broke her toe while working as a manager at Staples in 2002, claiming a heavy box fell on her foot.
Following the incident – which happened three months into her job at the office supply store – she had surgery on her toe and was ultimately given a wheelchair.
For nearly a decade, Kohrumel claimed to be wheelchair-bound due to complications from the toe injury sustained at work. She claimed to be suffering from hypersensitivity of the feet, depression and anxiety. Doctors prescribed about 25 medications for her symptoms.
Over the past nine years, prosecutors say Kohrumel was paid $1.5 million in disability payments. She never returned to work between the date of her surgery and today.
Since 2004, Kohrumel had represented herself as needing around-the-clock care, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Her husband cared for her until his death in 2011, at which point her father, Buitendag, took over.
Prosecutors say Kohrumel and her father recently began demanding that he be reimbursed for the care she allegedly needed. Buitendag sought $324,000 in compensation for allegedly caring for his daughter from September 2011 through June 2013.
The insurance company, ESIS/AIG, disputed the amount of care Kohrumel needed, and said they could not pay Buitendag.
On top of the benefits Kohrumel received over the years, she also told the insurance company she needed a larger home because her two-bedroom apartment was not big enough for her wheelchair.
The insurance company hired movers to help Kohrumel, and during the move, they discovered the truth about her condition.
Movers noticed Kohrumel would get out of her wheelchair for long periods of time and move and lift heavy boxes. They recorded her on video continuously standing, walking, lifting, moving and looking through boxes in her garage.
On Jul. 13, officials executed a search warrant on Kohrumel’s garage and discovered more than 20 boxes of unused prescription medication.
Kohrumel and Buitendag were both arrested and later entered guilty pleas.
Prosecutors say that all along Kohrumel’s many doctors believed she was completely disabled, entitling her to disability benefits, possibly for the rest of her life.
This could've amounted to millions of dollars over her lifetime.
“The defendants shamelessly worked their illegal scam for nearly a decade, defrauding the insurance company and repeatedly lying to state officials,” said Dumanis in a statement released Thursday. “Our Insurance Fraud Division did a great job prosecuting this case that ended with guilty pleas instead of a costly jury trial.”
On top of jail time, Kohrumel and Buitendag were ordered to pay $1,558,653 in restitution to the insurance company, ESIS, during Thursday's sentencing.
