Paulding County Man Wanted for Insurance Fraud, Forgery

Community, Police & Government, Press Release

ATLANTA – Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John F. King announced today that Mario Vaughn, 33, of Douglasville, has been charged with insurance fraud and forgery.

On September 29th, 2021, Mr. Vaughn submitted a personal injury protection claim to his insurance company in response to a crash in which he was a passenger.

“Mr. Vaughn transmitted a medical invoice from Buckhead Spine Specialists to his insurance company as evidence for the claim, which totaled more than $6,500 between work periods lost and medical costs incurred,” said Commissioner King. “Our investigation revealed that Mr. Vaughn was never a client of Buckhead Spine Specialists, and the providers listed have never been affiliated or employed by the practice.”

Warrants were taken out against Mr. Vaughn in Paulding County on September 19th for insurance fraud and forgery in the first degree. He is still wanted at this time.

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Operation Watchful Eye VI

Press Release
Operation Watchful Eye VI
(Paulding County, GA) Thanks to an initiative involving 66 Georgia Sheriffs, 35 sex offenders were arrested and 51 warrants were issued across the state from October 25 – November 1, 2021 for violations of state registration laws. In 2015, the first coordinated effort across the state was launched to conduct residence verifications and compliance checks of registered sex offenders during a specific time period. The coordinated initiative became known as Operation Watchful Eye. Due to the overwhelming success of the original initiative, Georgia’s Sheriffs have made this an annual operation and recently conducted Operation Watchful Eye VI.
The Office of Sheriff is mandated by law to register sex offenders and to keep the public informed of where registered sex offenders reside, work and attend school. Throughout the year, each sheriff’s office verifies addresses provided by registered sex offenders. While conducting residence verifications, deputies also assure additional registration requirements are being adhered to.
The purpose of this statewide effort is to create awareness that sheriffs’ offices work collectively, network, and actively engage their office by participating in statewide verification checks and other non-compliant matters in order to make our state safer. In numerous counties, deputy sheriffs, U.S. Marshals, U.S. Probation officers and Department of Community Supervision probation/parole officers worked together to verify sex offenders comply with the law.
Preliminary reporting by the 66 participating sheriff’s offices reveals 10,330 registered sex offenders, 341 predators and 351 homeless sex offenders are currently living in their counties. During the one week operation, 6,283 residence verifications were conducted, 59 new sex offenders moved into the reporting counties, 51 new warrants were issued for violations of the sex offender registry law, 3 warrants were issued for new sex offenses, 26 warrants were issued for residency violations of the sex offender registry and 13 warrants were issued for other miscellaneous new charges. More importantly, it was discovered that 467 sex offenders had absconded from their last known address, which will require the sheriff to work with other supporting agencies and track these individuals down.
Remember, for the protection of your family and neighbors, download the free Paulding Sheriff mobile app or visit the http://gbi.georgia.gov/georgia-sex-offender-registry for more information on the whereabouts of registered sex offenders in your community. #PauldingSheriff #OperationWatchfulEyeVI

Ralston calls for GBI investigation into Fulton County elections

Featured News, Featured Stories
Richard Barron election investigation

ATLANTA, Ga – Elected officials are taking aim and Fulton County and its elections director Richard Barron, following new details regarding the 2020 election.

Today, Speaker of the House David Ralston (R – Blue Ridge) released the letter he sent to Fulton Elections Director Richard Barron. In the letter, Ralston requests Barron ask the GBI to investigate November 2020 election. He cited the mounting allegations against Fulton County as his reasoning behind the need for an investigation.

ralston

Georgia Speaker of the House of Representatives David Ralston

“Recently, media reports have surfaced which call into question the way in which Fulton County conducted, counted and audited the November 2020 Presidential Election. These reports have been accompanied by video and other evidence which is part of on-going litigation and requires thorough examination and explanation. Given the seriousness of this situation and the possible repercussions for our state and nation, it is time we have an independent investigation – once and for all – of the way in which Fulton County conducted, counted and audited the November 2020 Presidential Election,” Ralston wrote.

 

Raffensperger calls for Barron’s firing

Throughout the week, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R-Ga) has issued several tweets, and last month, he held a press conference in front of headlines concerning Fulton’s lengthy history of election problems.

primary Raffensperger georgia lawsuits

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger

Most recently, a report of the double-counting of 200 absentee ballots came to light after the new voting law made it public.

“Fulton County’s continued failures have gone on long enough with no accountability. Rick Barron and Ralph Jones, Fulton’s registration chief, must be fired and removed from Fulton’s elections leadership immediately. Fulton’s voters and the people of Georgia deserve better,” one of Raffensperger’s tweets read.

Earlier this year, the Fulton County Elections Board voted to fire Barron, but the commissioners rejected the termination.

Another tweet stated, “Long before November, I had been working to get Fulton to clean up their decades of election mismanagement.  Restoring confidence in our elections should be a bipartisan concern. Fulton County’s poor elections management is making that impossible.”

Raffensperger’s also gone on record urging Republicans to take “the lead on election regulation reform” and that the SOS assigned monitor found “significant management issues.”

Fulton County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts (D – Fulton) described Raffensperger’s call to fire Barron and Jones as a “sell out to conspiracy theorists.”

“His ultimate goal is based on the provisions of Senate Bill 202, he would like to take over the elections in Fulton County, that is not going to happen, period,” Pitts told Fox 5 Atlanta.

Under the Election Integrity Act (SB 202), the Secretary of State’s Office does have the authority to take over a county’s elections process if numerous instances of problems are documented. The Department of Justice is currently suing Georgia over the bill on the grounds that it violates voter’s civil rights.

Read the entirety of Ralston’s call for an election investigation below:

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