Insurance Fraud Charges Filed Against Police Officer

DENVER, Colo. (CBS4) - The Colorado Attorney General's Office announced Friday that nine felony counts have been filed against Silt Police Department Officer Michael Taylor.

They include three counts each of Insurance Fraud, Forgery, and Theft.

"Insurance fraud is a crime that affects everyone in Colorado by driving up premiums and creating red tape for our hardworking and honest citizens," said Attorney General Coffman stated in a news release. "The fact that this alleged criminal behavior was perpetrated by someone who was sworn police officer, who was supposed to protect Coloradans, makes this even more grievous."

Taylor is accused of making three deceptive insurance between 2010 and 2015. He is alleged to have received tens of thousands of dollars in insurance payments from them.

"In 2015 he made a false police report and claimed someone had gone into his wife's vehicle and stolen thousands of dollars of jewelry," reads the attorney general's news release. "He is alleged to have then made a false insurance claim based upon that false police report and received $9,918 from the insurance company before his fraud was uncovered."

Taylor's biography on the Silt Police Department website says he joined the seven-member police force in 2011 and has 21 years of service.

Taylor was indicated by a grand jury convened after an investigation involved the state attorney general's office, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, and the National Insurance Crime Bureau.