Elizabethtown man, former deputy, arrested in insurance fraud case

A former Jennings County deputy has been arrested by Indiana State Police, accused of repeatedly making fake theft reports to rake in insurance payments.

35-year-old James C. Gholson of Elizabethtown was arrested today after a six-month investigation by the Indiana State Police Special Investigations Section. He served as deputy from February until the start of the investigation in June.

The investigation began after allegations were made against Gholson for allegedly defrauding insurance companies. Troopers say that Gholson owned an oxygen supply business and in February 2018 reported a theft of oxygen equipment from his home. He was reimbursed more than $187,000 by insurance companies for the claim.

In April of 2019, he again reported theft of oxygen equipment from his home and was reimbursed more that $66,000. Troopers say Gholson allegedly forged invoices showing he had purchased the equipment in the first place and created a false police report of the theft. At the time, he was a reserve deputy on the sheriff’s department.

In November of last year, Gholson again filed a false insurance claim, police say, this time claiming that he had a trailer with two mowers stolen from his home. A fake police report was again generated along with a false title for a trailer.

A warrant was issued for Gholson’s arrest Monday on charges of insurance fraud, official misconduct and forgery. He was arrested without incident today.