DuPage County woman accused of faking family deaths
Within months of starting her new job, Bridgette L. Buckner told her Aurora-based employer she had suffered devastating losses.
Buckner first submitted a benefit claim stating her young daughter died, authorities said.
Months later, while out on disability, she filed another claim, saying her FBI agent husband had been killed in the line of duty, they said
Authorities said it would make for a tragic story if it's true, but, instead they allege in a felony indictment that Buckner made it all up in a scheme to defraud her employer of $25,000.
A DuPage County judge issued a $100,000 warrant for Buckner's arrest after a grand jury indicted her this week on insurance, mail and wire fraud charges. Buckner, 48, whose last known address is 537 Rose Lane, Bartlett, remained free late Friday. Attempts to reach her for comment were unsuccessful.
The criminal indictment and arrest warrant were made public Friday in court records. If convicted, she faces either probation or up to seven years in prison.
Buckner began her new job as a phone representative in March 2008 at Hallmark Services Corp., which recently moved its offices from Aurora to Naperville. Buckner took out a supplemental dependent life insurance plan for her husband, Jeff, and three children, according to court records.
Buckner received $10,000 from her company insurer, Fort Dearborn Life Insurance, for an April 30, 2008, claim in which she said her young daughter, Briajay, died that April 19 of an illness. Prosecutors said Buckner submitted a false death certificate and death claim form.
Buckner later was placed on disability after saying she slipped on spilled water at her office. She was due to return Sept. 18, 2008.
One day earlier, prosecutors said, she called her employer to report her husband was killed on the job while working as an FBI agent. She submitted another benefit claim that Sept. 25 to collect $15,000, court records showed.
After the second claim, suspicious authorities opened an investigation. They were unable to verify any obituary, burial plot or other information contained in the documents they allege Buckner forged. The FBI also verified they did not have a Jeffery Buckner employed as an agent within the bureau, officials said.
DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph Birkett said the allegations, though bold, are not unheard of and often slip through the cracks. He has long argued for more state and federal dollars to fight insurance and other financial fraud.
"Sometimes, the more over the top it is, the less scrutiny it gets, because people think there's no way anyone would ever make something like this up," Birkett said. "Fortunately, in this case, by coincidence, one of the fraud investigators was a former FBI agent."
He added: "These type of cases take hundreds of hours to investigate. They involve thousands of pages of records and documents. It may not sound sexy, but these crimes cost millions of dollars."
Buckner did not receive the $15,000 payout claim regarding her husband's death. Authorities said the husband, who is estranged from his wife, is alive and well and unaware of the claim. As for her daughter, details still are sketchy, but officials said Buckner did suffer the loss of a child years ago while delivering twins.