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Sabroso sues over funds use by SAMIS Police: More charges could come against ex-president By JOHN DARLING Charging that she spent its funds on "personal or familial use," Medford fruit processor Sabroso Co. has filed a lawsuit seeking $100,000 from SAMIS Corp. of Medford and its president, Suzanne Doreen Crawford. Crawford, 54, was arrested in February on a charge of first-degree aggravated theft and is free on bail while Medford police build a case from up to 20 other clients of the third-party insurance administrator, said Medford police Lt. Mike Moran. Accountants and auditors are going through the records of more than a dozen Oregon cities, counties and corporations that were clients of SAMIS. "Additional criminal charges will be forthcoming when we determine who did what," Moran said. "There are many victims we talked to and we believe they've all potentially been victimized. We are going to prosecute. "The state also might want to look at a RICO-type investigation," Moran said, referring to the federal statutes under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Crawford, formerly Suzanne Worthington, last month lost a suit brought by Sherm's Thunderbird Market on the same charges - misappropriating trust funds meant to pay worker compensation claims. Superior Court Judge Mark Schiveley ordered a judgment of $96,159.85, plus interest from March 6, as well as legal and court costs. Third-party administrators such as SAMIS pay insurance claims to medical providers from client trust funds and then seek reimbursement from the clients. In addition to Sabroso and Sherm's, the only SAMIS clients to have filed civil court actions thus far, other clients included the cities of Ashland, Grants Pass, Roseburg and Klamath Falls, Josephine, Douglas and Washington counties, Klamath County School District, Croman Corp., Crystal Springs Packing Co., Naumes Inc., and Yamanouchi Consumer Inc., which owns Harry & David and Jackson & Perkins. An apparent answering machine message at SAMIS' 2594 E. Barnett Road office said the phone line was "temporarily disconnected." Calls to Crawford's Medford home and to her lawyer, Carl Caplan of Medford, were not returned Thursday. The Sabroso suit, filed by Medford attorney Timothy Gerking, charges that SAMIS has refused to provide an accounting of Sabroso funds, violating terms of its service contract. It seeks $50,000 each from SAMIS and Crawford. The investigation is "complex" and it will be several weeks, Moran said, before evidence is presented to a grand jury. John Darling is a free-lance writer living in Ashland. E-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.