Community Corner

MB Fugitive Found in Mexico After Taunting Police on Twitter

Wanda Lee Ann Podgurski, who was convicted of fraud, taunted law enforcement during her time on the run, said officials.

A fugitive who was charged with 29 felony counts was stripped of her freedom on July 4 in Mexico, according to the San Diego County District Attorney's office.

Wanda Lee Ann Podgurski, 60, whose last known address was in Manhattan Beach, taunted law enforcement during her time on the run, establishing a Twitter account and following only Dumanis. Podgurski tweeted “Catch me if you can.”  She was arrested in Mexico over the holiday weekend.

Podgurski—who went missing during the trial in January when she failed to appear in court and a warrant was issued for her arrest—was sentenced on June 21 in absentia to 20 years after her conviction on 29 felony counts.

She will be arraigned Monday in San Diego Superior Court on a charge of failing to appear while on bail. Her June sentencing also included an order to pay more than $1 million in fines and restitution.

“The defendant in this case was brazen in both the large-scale fraud she committed and the way she mocked the criminal justice system,” Dumanis stated. “Law enforcement, and in particular the U.S. Marshals and Fugitive Task Force, did a great job tracking the defendant down and taking her into custody.”

Podgurski, who worked as a clerk for Amtrak, had six insurance policies under which, if she became disabled, she would no longer have to pay the premiums and could begin to collect disability payments, stated Dumanis.

In 2006, Podgurski, who made about $44,000 per year, increased the coverage on several of policies, her premiums rising to more than $60,000 per year. Her monthly benefit from all six insurance companies was potentially $40,000.00 per month.

In August of 2006, she said she slipped and fell at home, filing claims with the six insurance companies and Amtrak. The policies required that she must be unable to do two or more activities of daily living: dressing, toileting, transferring, feeding, bathing, and mobility.

Podgurski visited several doctors who verified her claims that she was unable to perform several of the daily living activities. 

“This type of fraud undermines critical services and care for disabled Californians, and victimizes taxpayers,” stated State Controller and Franchise Tax Board Chair John Chiang. “I’m proud that our state tax investigators helped to end this costly criminal scheme.”

Private investigators for the insurance companies evaluated Podgurski, discovering that she could walk stairs, drive herself to the store, run errands on her own and perform other tasks.

While she was allegedly disabled, Podgurski traveled to the Dominican Republic, New York, Seattle, Boston and Fort Lauderdale; took road trips to Key West, Eureka, the Berkshires and other destinations, and went to China in 2008 on a 16-day tour to China with her boyfriend.

When charged with 38 criminal counts including insurance fraud, perjury, grand theft from Amtrak Railroad Retirement Board and tax evasion, Podgurski had received $664,555.15 in disability payments, stated Dumanis. The criminal complaint was changed in 2011 to include a false insurance claim she'd filed for $261,000 worth of stolen jewelry.

“This was an extreme case, but any level of disability fraud ultimately increases insurance costs for everyone," Dumanis stated. "Our Disability and Healthcare Insurance Fraud Program investigates and prosecutes fraudulent medical and disability claims and policies. In addition to holding defendants accountable for their crimes, we’re also protecting the public from rising healthcare costs due to fraud.”

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