Obigbo v. State

• Decision Date: 26 August 1999
• Docket Number: No. 05-97-01083-CR,05-97-01083-CR
• Parties: (Tex.App.-Dallas 1999) OBIOZOR LOUIS OBIGBO, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

Page 299

6 S.W.3d 299 (Tex.App.-Dallas 1999)

OBIOZOR LOUIS OBIGBO, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

No. 05-97-01083-CR

In The Court of Appeals Fifth District of Texas at Dallas

August 26, 1999

On Appeal from the Criminal District Court No. 4 Dallas County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. F96-02398-K

[Copyrighted Material Omitted]

Before Justices Ovard, James, and Bridges

OPINION

Opinion By Justice James

Obiozor Louis Obigbo appeals his conviction for insurance fraud. Following a jury trial, appellant was found guilty and sentenced to confinement for two years in a state jail facility, probated for five years. In three points of error, appellant contends the evidence is legally insufficient to support the verdict, the evidence is factually insufficient to show appellant knowingly and intentionally committed an offense, and the trial court committed charge error by failing to define the word "material." Because we conclude the evidence is legally and factually sufficient to support appellant's conviction and the trial court did not err in omitting a definition of "material" in the charge, we affirm.

Appellant submitted an insurance claim to Alamo Rent A Car alleging that nearly $11,000 worth of clothing was stolen from a Chevrolet Corsica appellant rented from Alamo. In a personal effects loss report appellant submitted to Alamo, appellant described the incident as follows:

My wife and I returned from a trip to Durant, Oklahoma around 12:00 midnight, parked the rental car in the parking lot (across the street from my residence), left our bags in the car. In the morning, I came out to pick up our bags before going to a business, I noticed the window to the left rear door was broken and our two bags stolen. Then I called the Carrollton Police.

The loss report listed the following items as stolen:

                 ________________________________________________________________________________________
                                                                            Date of      Where      
                    Owner                  Item                 Value      Purchase      Purchased  
                ____________________________________________________________________________________
                LOUIS O. OBIGBO 2 SUITS - 3 PIECE BY GIVENCHY $2,200.00  JAN.18,1995LAGOS           
                LOUIS O. OBIGBO 2 PAIRS -MAURI EXOTIC SHOES   $2,000.00   "   "  "   "              
                LOUIS O. OBIGBO 3 SUSPENDER BELTS             $  150.00   "   "  "   "              
                LOUIS O. OBIGBO 4 DRESS SHIRTS                $  400.00   "   "  "   "              
                LOUIS O. OBIGBO 3 PAIRS OF TROUSER            $  570.00   "   "  "   "              
                                                                                                    
                ANNE OBIGBO     4 PAIRS OF LADY'S SHOES       $1,000.00   "   "  "   "              
                ANNE OBIGBO     2 CORD-CAPION MATERAIAL       $2,600.00   "   "  "   "              
                                                GALA DESIGNER                                       
                ANNE OBIGBO     2 BUBA DRESSES                $  900.00   "   "  "   "              
                ANNE OBIGBO     2 SKIRT SUITS                 $  250.00   "   "  "   "              
                                                                                                    
                LOUIS O. OBIGBO 2 BLACK BAGS                  $1,100.00  MARCH, 1993 DALLAS         
                ____________________________________________________________________________________
                

(Spelling as in original).

Appellant also produced two receipts in support of his claim. The first is dated January 18, 1995 and purports to reflect a cash sale from "Ubabro Mkt. Consultancy" of "Balogun Lagos" to appellant of the "U.S.A." in the total amount of $5320. Each of the first five categories of items listed on the loss report, together with their value, is reflected on the receipt. No items other than those, however, are listed on the receipt. At the top of the receipt, printed below the name of the company, is the following information:

Dealers in all types of Cosmetics and Various Beauty Materials, Wholesales & Retails

BE PROUD OF YOUR BEAUTY

The second receipt is dated November 11, 1994 and purports to reflect a cash sale from "Ets Oscar & Partners (Nig.), Brain Investments (W.A.) Ltd." to "Mrs. Anne Obigbo" of Onitsha in the total amount of $5600.00. This receipt shows company offices in Onitsha, Nigeria and Balogun, Lagos, but it does not reflect where the sale purportedly took place. Similar to the first receipt, this receipt lists each of the categories of items listed on the loss report for Anne Obigbo, together with their values, and no other items are listed.

Appellant also reported the theft to the police. The police report lists three items of damaged or lost property. It states that a door window was damaged and two items were stolen, a "black bag" valued at $100 and a "black tote bag" valued at $60. The police report places the total value of the loss at $310, including $150 for the damaged window. Following the listing of these three items, there are twelve lines left blank. There is no mention of the contents, if any, of the two bags or of the items of clothing appellant reported stolen to Alamo. Below the twelve blank lines is a section for additional comments. It states: "NARRATIVE USED FOR ADDITIONAL PROPERTY YES ___ NO ___." The "no" block is marked.

Appellant's claim was forwarded to Susan Pitts, a claims representative for Alamo's insurer. Pitts testified she received an anonymous phone call alerting her that a "ring of Nigerians" was planning to submit a number of false theft claims to Alamo and that one had already been submitted.¹ According to the caller, Alamo was targeted because it maintains higher policy limits than most other rental car companies.² The caller mentioned the names of several people who allegedly were involved, including appellant. Pitts confirmed that Alamo had in fact received claims which met the profile mentioned by the caller, including appellant's. According to Pitts, the receipts appellant provided in support of his claim were questionable because they were handwritten, from a foreign country, and for a high dollar amount.

Pitts forwarded appellant's claim to Dave McCreary, an auditor with American International Group (AIG), Alamo's insurer, to conduct an investigation. After McCreary finished his investigation, Pitts wrote appellant a letter stating his claim was denied because the receipts appellant provided did not correspond with the records from the stores where the merchandise allegedly was purchased. In response, Pitts received a letter from appellant's attorney enclosing two affidavits purporting to verify appellant's purchase of the merchandise. Pitts forwarded the affidavits to McCreary.

Pitts further testified the claim was submitted under a property and casualty insurance policy, the documents submitted for the claim would affect any right to payment and the amount paid, she had reason to believe the claim was false, and the false information affected the insured.

McCreary testified he received appellant's claim from Pitts and conducted an investigation. McCreary explained that the accuracy of the claim documents affects the amount of payment to which a claimant would be entitled and anything false in the documents would affect the amount of any payment. McCreary testified he doubted the authenticity of appellant's claim, and he forwarded the claim and supporting documentation to Ben Phillips, an investigator for AIG in Dallas, for further investigation. McCreary also hired an insurance investigator in Nigeria, Ayo Oshodi, to investigate appellant's claim.

Phillips testified he interviewed appellant and recorded the conversations with appellant's consent. The transcripts and recordings of two conversations were introduced into evidence. In his discussions with Phillips, appellant repeated the version of events stated in his loss report. Although the receipt for the women's clothing reflects Anne Obigbo purchased those items in November 1994, appellant claimed to have personally purchased all the items listed on the loss report while he was in Lagos, Nigeria the previous January. Appellant also agreed to furnish his passport to Phillips. According to Phillips, the passport indicated appellant arrived in Nigeria on January 14, 1995 and departed January 21, 1995. Otherwise, the passport had not been used for the five years prior to January 1995. There was no indication appellant was in Nigeria in November 1994 when the loss report shows the women's items were purchased.

Appellant also told Phillips that he worked out of his apartment and operated a business named Vndiz Enterprise, which bought electronics and other merchandise overseas for sale in Nigeria. Phillips testified he could find no corporate listing for Vndiz Enterprise or otherwise determine whether appellant worked.

Ayo Oshodi also testified. He stated he is an insurance investigator in Nigeria and has worked in the insurance industry for twenty-six years. He has investigated fraudulent claims since 1972. Oshodi investigated appellant's claim by visiting the addresses of the companies printed on the receipts to determine if the shops existed and whether the items listed on the receipts were sold there. Oshodi testified that the items appellant claimed to have lost were not available in Nigeria, and, even if they could be found there, they would not have been sold at the locations he visited. He stated the locations listed on the receipts consisted of small, local shops in crowded areas, "where you don't expect anything of great importance being sold except petty trading."

At the address purporting to house "Ubabro Mkt. Consultancy," Oshodi found only a small room at the back of an old building. There was no sign board outside. The room contained a chair, desk, and bench. At the desk was a man who identified himself as C. C. Ubanwa, chief marketing consultant. Oshodi determined that the types of items appellant claimed he purchased there were not...