– Vehicles held captive in Inland Empire insurance fraud scheme
– Cars seized in Inland Empire insurance scam.
Accident – Death – Obituary News :
Authorities in the Inland Empire have revealed a shocking fraud scheme involving more than a dozen individuals who allegedly engaged in a complex plot to defraud auto insurers. The scheme involved making false representations to people involved in collisions, taking their vehicles, and holding them “hostage” until insurance payments were received.
Task Force Investigation
The Inland Empire Automobile Insurance Task Force, led by investigators from the California Department of Insurance, executed search warrants targeting 12 of the 15 defendants involved in the fraud ring. The investigation, which spanned several months, uncovered losses amounting to $353,035 for auto insurers.
Ringleader and Cohorts
The alleged ringleader of the fraud ring was identified as 36-year-old Andre Angelo Reyes of Corona. Working closely with Reyes was 35-year-old Anthony Gomez of Jurupa Valley, operator of CA Collision repair facilities in San Bernardino County. The DOI also named additional cohorts from various cities across California.
Illegal Activities
The criminal activities of the ring allegedly began in November 2022 when Rosa Isela Santistevan of Irvine, a non-sworn employee of the California Highway Patrol, illegally sold traffic collision face pages to Reyes. Reyes then enlisted the help of Esmeralda Parga of Pomona to gather personal information from the pages and contact the parties involved in the collisions.
Parga would pretend to be from the victims’ insurance company, coordinating the towing of their vehicles to CA Collision repair centers under false pretenses. Once at the repair sites, the vehicles were held “hostage” until cash payments were made to release them.
Collusive Collisions
In addition to the illegal towing and holding of vehicles, investigators uncovered evidence of “collusive collisions” orchestrated by the conspirators. One such collision, captured on video, showed the defendants intentionally crashing a BMW sedan into a Polaris Slingshot and then falsely claiming two separate crashes on the freeway.
No injuries were reported in connection with these fraudulent acts, but the impact on auto insurers and victims of the scheme has been significant.
Authorities are continuing their investigation into the fraud ring and are working to bring all individuals involved to justice.
.
– Vehicles taken hostage in Inland Empire insurance fraud scheme
– Vehicles seized in Inland Empire insurance scam.
