A former administrator for UIHC pleaded guilty to charges related to a multi-decade insurance fraud scam that resulted in the victim being imprisoned for nearly two years.
According to court documents, Matthew Keirans, 58, of Hartland, Wisconsin, pleaded guilty on Monday to one count of forgery and one count of insurance fraud in November 2023.
Court documents report that Keirans admitted to falsifying personal records — including tax information, social security, deeds, loans, purchase agreements, and more — starting in 1990 under the name of William D. Woods, which is the name of a former associate of Keirans.
Additionally, Keirans committed insurance fraud and forgery when applying for a life insurance policy in August 2019, wherein he used the false identification and a forged signature of Woods to obtain the policy falsely. The policy was obtained through Dupaco Community Credit Union with an account Keirans had made with falsified information.
Credit Union National Association Mutual in Waverly, Iowa, located 90 minutes north of Iowa City, offered the insurance through Dupaco Community Credit Union and therefore is the victim of the insurance fraud in this case.
In 2013, Keirans applied for a hospital administration position at UIHC using the falsified records in Woods’ name. After being hired, Keirans worked remotely from his Wisconsin home as an administrator with top-level access to the hospital’s computer and information systems, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Keirans kept money in national banks, and Woods — who was reportedly homeless at the time — went to the national bank’s branch in Los Angeles, California in 2019. Woods presented identification information, but due to the long history and complexity of the identity theft, the branch manager was unable to confirm his true identity.
When Woods failed to answer security questions, the Los Angeles Police Department was called and Woods was subsequently incarcerated for nearly two years following a police correspondence with Keirans, who supplied falsified documents demonstrating his innocence. Police then determined that Woods was the individual committing fraud rather than Keirans.
Woods ultimately spent 428 days in county jail and a subsequent 147 days in a mental hospital, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
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Law enforcement made multiple inquiries to Keirans with no results. Woods managed to contact the Iowa City hospital’s security department, and he detailed to them the situation with Keirans.
Iowa law enforcement then began to investigate Keirans, and the extent of the identity theft and forgery was discovered shortly thereafter. Keirans continued to maintain his innocence up until he was presented with DNA evidence, shortly after which he confessed.
Keirans is currently held by the U.S. Marshal as he awaits sentencing, which has not been scheduled. He is facing up to 32 years of imprisonment and fines amounting to $1.25 million.