Amanda Lee Banks, 50, was booked into the Lubbock County Detention Center on Tuesday afternoon for a charge of insurance fraud.
Banks is a candidate for the Lubbock ISD Board of Trustees in the “at large” position. The election is Saturday, May 5.
2016 Burglary Report:
A police report from August of 2016 said an officer was assigned to investigate the report of a burglary in the 2700 block of 87th Street.
The police report said racial slurs were carved into Banks’ furniture, cabinets and vehicle. The report said the slurs were ni**er and #wlm.
“‘WLM’ presumably stands for white lives matter,” the report said. “I believe the specific racial slurs and amount of time spent inside vandalizing was atypical of any residential burglary I have ever investigated.”
DPS also became interested in the case because of the racial slurs. There was also a reference to damage from spray paint in the police report.
The police report quoted Banks as saying a gold-plated ring with diamonds was taken during the burglary. A second gold ring with white diamonds was also reported stolen.
However, police found that Banks pawned rings that were not described in enough detail to know if they were the very same rings.
Previous Insurance Claims:
Then police found “Banks had 21 insurance claims since 2008.”
“Some of the claims were on the same date but appeared to be separate claims,” the police report said.
Police then looked into their own previous records and found Banks was listed as the victim in seven property crime reports. She filed insurance claims on six of them.
A few days after the report of a burglary, police asked Banks to come to the police department to give an interview. She was asked who would target her home for vandalism with racial slurs.
She told police that she was part of the East Lubbock Promise Neighborhood which addresses racial and other issues in Lubbock.
“Banks brought up a problem at work and believed it was race related,” the police report said.
Police Find Fake Receipts:
Banks then waited until March of 2017 to submit another insurance claim for the August 2016 burglary. Police discovered that Banks submitted insurance claims for clothing using fraudulent receipts, according to the police report.
Police believe they can prove that $7,972.63 of her insurance claims are fraudulent. They also believe that Banks carved the racial slurs inside her own home to bolster fake insurance claims.
Banks was able to post a $15,000 bond to be released from jail. If convicted, the charge against her is a state jail felony with a maximum sentence of two years.
