D.C. commissioner gets three years behind bars

A former D.C. elected official was sentenced to three years in prison on charges stemming from an insurance fraud scheme involving the theft of his dead brother’s identity. Roscoe Grant Jr., 58, a former Ward 7 advisory neighborhood commissioner and retired D.C. government employee, obtained a false insurance policy in the name of his brother, who was seriously ill, listing himself as the sole beneficiary, prosecutors said. Grant made false representations to Transamerica Life Insurance Company about his brother’s employment status and ability to work, and forged his brother’s signature. After Grant’s brother died in 2005, Grant helped generate fake documents and convinced Transamerica to pay him more than $33,000.