(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports a woman from Creston was arrested Wednesday morning, on an Animal Neglect charge. 35-year-old Elda Soraida Lemus was arrested at her residence on a charge of Animal Neglect with Serious Injury or Death. Lemus was taken to Union County Jail and later posted a $2,000 cash or surety bond before being released.

And, a little after 10-p.m. Thursday, 39-year-old Samantha Lynn Hayes, of Creston, was arrested for Domestic Abuse Assault/2nd Offense, and for Consume(ing) [an] Alcoholic Beverage in Public Place/1st Offense. Hayes was taken to Clarke County Jail where she was being held without bond.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – A woman from central Iowa faces a felony charge related to Insurance Fraud. The Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau says 39-year-old Sarah Rahm, of Bondurant, was charged with one count of Insurance Fraud – Presenting False Information (a Class D Felony). The charges are the result of an investigation that began in March, of 2024.

According to the criminal complaint filed by the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau, Rahm made willful misrepresentations regarding her pet’s medical history and then falsified the onset date of a claimed medical condition in connection with an insurance claim. Rahm was arrested and booked into the Polk County Jail on May 3, 2024.  Rahm posted a $5,000 bond and was released.

Sarah Rahm

Iowans with information about insurance fraud are encouraged to contact the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau at 515-654-6556.

Note: A criminal charge is merely an accusation, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

(Pleasantville Iowa) – Officials with the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau report a Knoxville man, 46-year-old Theodore Richard Liautaud, Jr., was arrested May 1st on a warrant charging him with: one count of Insurance Fraud Presenting False Information; Tampering with Records, and Theft in the 3^rd Degree. The charges are the result of an investigation that began in May of 2023, after the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau received a complaint against Liautaud, Jr., who was the owner of the Chiropractic Hut-Liautaud Family Chiropractic located in Pleasantville.

According to the complaint, Liautaud had been billing his patient’s insurance providers for dates of services that had not taken place during a period from October 2021 to May of 2023.

Theodore Richard Liautaud, Jr

Iowans with information about insurance fraud are encouraged to contact the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau at 515-654-6556.

Note: A criminal charge is merely an accusation, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

DES MOINES, Iowa — Officials with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board decided Thursday, to open an investigation into Melissa Vine’s campaign in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District. The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports Vine, who is running as a Democrat in the district, was the subject of a complaint made by the Iowa Unity Coalition, a progressive PAC, earlier in May. The coalition held a vote April 30 on who to endorse in June 7 Democratic primary between Vine and Lanon Baccam, a former U.S. Department of Agriculture official and Biden campaign staffer. Registered members had to pay $20 to the group to participate in the online vote.

IUC Chair Mitch Henry said in an interview that the PAC saw a sudden increase in members the day of and the day before the vote. During the 24-hour online voting process, large quantities of votes were submitted over the course of one hour. An audit by the Iowa Unity Coalition found that 41 votes were submitted by non-members, and that 43 others were submitted by people who had signed up for the group shortly before the vote and had the same address and credit card information, as well as email addresses linked to Vine’s campaign.

Henry said that 125 new members were registered through ActBlue primarily from April 30 through May 1 as the endorsement voting period began, with 76 registrations flagged as fraudulent. At an emergency board meeting held May 1, the organization disqualified 84 votes from the final endorsement count and the Iowa Unity Coalition officially endorsed Baccam May 7. Henry said the Iowa Unity Coalition contacted four individuals he knew of that were a part of the registration who said they did not register to become a new member, did not pay for membership and did not vote through the coalition’s website in the endorsement process. For many of the other individuals involved in the registration surge, he said, it was unclear how many were real people.

“I voted” stickers are scattered over a table at a polling site in Des Moines on Nov. 3, 2020. (Photo By Perry Beeman/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

The investigation will examine whether Vine’s campaign violated state laws banning a person from making contributions or expenditures in the name of another person. Such an action could potentially violate state and federal law by using federal campaign money to make contributions on behalf of individuals to a state PAC. The actions appear to be tied to Lou McDonald, Vine’s former campaign manager who was fired earlier this week for his actions related to the alleged illegal contributions. In a statement to the Des Moines Register, a Vine campaign spokesperson said that “a staffer took actions that do not reflect our values, and he is no longer a part of our campaign.” The Vine campaign had earlier called the action a “clerical error,” but Henry said that McDonald made claims in a voicemail that the Iowa Unity Coalition had received illegal contributions. Henry dismissed this accusation, pointing to recent audits of the organization that have found no illegal contributions.

Zach Goodrich, the executive director of the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board, said that he plans to “expedite” the investigation as much as possible with the goal of completing it before the June primary. He also stated that the complaint is under the jurisdiction of the board, and that a violation of the state law on contributions could amount to a serious misdemeanor.

(Radio Iowa) – A guaranteed income program in central Iowa marked one year of monthly payments this week. Some of the 110 participants who get 500 dollars each month in the UpLift program spoke at an event, but used only their first names to keep their part in the program confidential. Nicole from Des Moines is using the money to start a nonprofit working with the elderly and her husband to become a lead (like the metal) abatement contractor. “It may seem like something small, but it’s something big because it’s not just for our household. It just goes out into the community. It goes out to our children. Then it’s that generational wealth that is just going to keep on going,” she says.

Skye from Altoona is a single mother of two and says UpLift helped pay for the car that got her to a class that landed her a new job at a hospital. “I got to experience my first graduation ever by getting this certificate. My kids got to see it. My kids got to be there and see mom graduate,” she says. Early data show the largest share of money, 42 percent, is spent on food. The Iowa Legislature passed a bill that was signed into law that prohibits cities and counties from enacting guaranteed income programs.

UpLift organizers say the program with finish out payments as scheduled through next spring thanks to support from private donors.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A traffic stop in the 1700 block of 200th Street in Red Oak, Thursday evening, resulted in an arrest. Red Oak Police say 24-year-old Brandon Lane Good was taken into custody at around 7:10-p.m., for Driving While Revoked. Good was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.