Special to IFN 

A Mooresville man faces a felony insurance fraud charge following an investigation by the N.C. Department of Insurance.

Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey announced the arrest of Scott William Hughes of Saddle Back Lane, Mooresville, in a news release on Tuesday.

According to special agents with the N.C. Department of Insurance’s Criminal Investigations Division, Hughes told Central Insurance Company that his daughter had struck and killed a deer with a vehicle on September 15, 2024.

The daughter, who was a juvenile at the time, had actually hit and killed a pedestrian with the car the day before, investigators said. Following an investigation by the Mooresville Police Department, the daughter was charged with felony hit and run and three misdemeanor charges in connection with a crash on Rocky River Road that killed 20-year-old Shaelyn Ellen Bell.

As a result of the DOI fraud investigation, Scott Hughes was arrested on May 27 and released on a $10,000 secured bond.

Causey the Department of Insurance is committed to investigating fraud.

“Insurance fraud hits consumers in the wallet,” Causey said. “Approximately 20 cents of every insurance premium dollar goes to covering the cost of fraud. I’m fighting this by aggressively pursuing and prosecuting insurance fraud in North Carolina.”

The insurance fraud charge is the latest legal trouble for Hughes. He and his wife, Elaine Marie Hughes, were each charged with felony accessory after the fact following the MPD investigation of the fatal hit-and-run crash involving their daughter.