Cedar Rapids man convicted of filing fake pet insurance claim will ask for probation

CEDAR RAPIDS — The City of Cedar Rapids’ housing and nuisance manager was convicted last week for submitting a forged receipt for pet medications to an insurance company.

Greg Buelow, 53, pleaded last Thursday to tampering with records, an aggravated misdemeanor. In his written plea, Buelow admitted “I did falsify, destroy, remove or conceal a writing or record with the intent to injure, deceive or to conceal a wrongdoing.”

The other charges of insurance fraud — presenting false information, a Class D felony, and forgery, an aggravated misdemeanor, will be dismissed, as part of the plea agreement. He faces up to two years in jail.

Buelow will ask a judge at sentencing for a deferred judgment and self-supervised probation, according to the plea. He also agreed to pay restitution to Nationwide Insurance. That amount will be determined later.

His sentencing hasn’t been set at this time.

According to the criminal complaints, Buelow provided false information to an insurance company for a pet insurance claim. The submitted falsified invoice for reimbursement, purportedly issued by a veterinary clinic, was for prescription medications for his dog. The incident happened June 2, the complaint stated.

The complaints don’t include the amount of false reimbursements.

This case was investigated by the Iowa Insurance Fraud Bureau.

Buelow is being prosecuted by the Johnson County Attorney’s Office. Sixth Judicial District Senior Judge Paul Miller granted a request by Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks to appoint a special prosecutor for the case to avoid any conflict of interest.

According to the city’s Human Resources Department, Buelow is paid administrative leave as the housing and nuisance manager in the Building Services department.

Buelow has been employed by the city since 1995 in various departments.

Trish Mehaffey covers state and federal courts for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com