An Alamance County father and his two sons, who own and manage several local residential real estate companies, have been charged with a total of 48 felonies in an alleged insurance fraud scheme, North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey announced.
The father, William Grant Andrews, Sr., and his two sons, William Grant Andrews, Jr. and Steven Andrews, are accused of submitting false and “exaggerated claims” to the North Carolina Joint Underwriting Association for damages to properties they own and operate through multiple real estate management and home repair companies, according to Causey’s office. The crimes allegedly occurred between November 2021 and September 2023, the state insurance commissioner said in a subsequent news release.
William Grant Andrews, Sr., 65, white, male, of 3242 Altamahaw Race Track Road, Elon, was arrested Tuesday, June 17 and charged with: three counts of felony insurance fraud; two counts of feloniously attempting to obtain property by false pretense; and felony common law uttering, according to his arrest warrant. He was released on a written promise to appear in court and made his first appearance in Alamance County district court last Wednesday afternoon, according to Alamance County criminal court records.
Causey noted that that the two sons turned themselves in on Tuesday, June 17, and were released on written promises to appear in court.
William Grant Andrews, Jr., 39, white, male, of 3478 Danieley Water Wheel Road, Burlington, is charged with: two counts of felony insurance fraud; two counts of feloniously attempting to obtain property by false pretense; and one count of felony perjury, based on the arrest warrant filed in Alamance County criminal courts. He had his first appearance in Alamance County district court last Wednesday afternoon, according to his court file.
Steven Herbert Andrews, 36, white, male, of 3242 Altamahaw Race Track Road, Elon, is charged with: 16 counts of felony insurance fraud; 10 counts of felony forgery; eight counts of feloniously attempting to obtain property by false pretenses; and two counts of felony perjury, according to four arrest warrants filed against Steven Andrews last week.
The alleged crimes involve false claims for repairs to properties that the father and his two sons own and operate: Realty Management Group; Andrews Properties and Rentals; Andrews Properties of the Triad; and Andrews Properties of the Carolinas, according to the arrest warrants.
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According to Causey, the alleged crimes were uncovered by special agents within his department’s Criminal Investigations Division.
The state insurance commissioner’s investigation revealed that the three men submitted false insurance claims and/or invoices for repairs for damages to more than a dozen properties located at: 316-318 Albright Avenue (a duplex) in Graham; 516, 519, 520, and 524 Avon Avenue in Burlington; 518 and 524 East Sixth Street in Burlington; 1119 North Park Avenue, 619 North Mebane Street, 506 South Flanner Street, and 2312 Moran Street in Burlington; 200 Goodson Avenue, Gibsonville; and 510 Piedmont Street, Reidsville, according to the arrest warrants.
Brothers accused of lying under oath to investigators
The narrative on their arrest warrants alleges that each of the three defendants knowingly submitted false insurance claims and invoices for repairs totaling approximately $121,615.99.
William Andrews, Jr. and Steven Andrews are accused of knowingly giving false testimony to the North Carolina Underwriters Association while under oath on September 7, 2023 to support their claims for payment, according to their arrest warrants.
The North Carolina Joint Underwriting Association (NCJUA) in Raleigh had previously filed a petition in Alamance County superior court late last year to obtain copies of body-worn camera footage recorded by two Graham police officers who responded to a call regarding alleged vandalism to the duplex on Albright Avenue in Graham in October 2022. A subsequent insurance claim, known as a “First Notice of Loss” for that claim was filed in January 2023, according to insurance documents and other public records.
The NCJUA subsequently accused William Andrews, Jr. of misrepresenting the extent of the damages, according to the court file.
“The [NCJUA] retained an independent adjuster who promptly inspected the [property at 316-318 Albright Avenue in Graham] but was unable to observe the claimed damages because repairs and renovations had already been made prior to the inspection,” an affidavit filed by a claims manager for the state insurance pool stated.
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Previous story: https://alamancenews.com/insurance-group-suing-graham-police-to-get-body-cam-footage-showing-alleged-vandalism-at-albright-avenue-duplex/
Earlier allegations of fraudulent documentation
Andrews Properties of the Carolinas had been previously accused by attorneys for the city of Burlington in early 2022 of submitting false documents asserting “grandfather status” that would’ve allowed the company to continue operating a boarding house in a residential zone at 614 Maple Avenue. The city’s board of adjustment had conducted a quasi-judicial hearing at the time to determine whether the properties had, in fact, been granted “grandfather” status to continue operating, after Burlington’s code enforcement staff ordered the Andrews Properties to close the boarding house, as well as another boarding house at 504 West Webb Avenue.
Steven Andrews told Burlington’s board of adjustment at the time that the city had granted grandfather status for two other boarding houses, at 603 West Davis Street and 512 Maple Avenue (which were zoned for office/institutional use), via “zoning certificates” that he said had been transferred when his company purchased the properties in 2017. At the hearing in February 2022, Andrews presented documentary evidence dating back to the 1990s to support his claim of “grandfathered” status, but the board of adjustment voted 4-1 to deny his appeal of the closure ordered by the city’s code enforcement staff.
Andrews Properties and three affiliated companies filed a lawsuit against the city of Burlington the following month, in March 2022, seeking a number of public records related to the dispute over the boarding houses. That suit remains in Alamance County civil superior court, according to the court file.
William Grant Andrews, Sr. is being represented for his criminal case by attorney William Scott Harkey of Winston-Salem. William Grant Andrews, Jr. is being represented by Graham attorney Clay Plunkett. Steven Andrews is being represented for his criminal cases by attorneys Mark Andrew Jones and Ashley Victoria Dimuzo of Winston-Salem.
Each of the defendants is currently scheduled to appear in Alamance County district court on Monday, July 7.
