SAN DIEGO – Prosecutors Friday announced charges against 10 alleged members of a San Diego auto insurance fraud ring, who are accused of buying damaged vehicles and staging car thefts in order to collect more than $500,000 in fraudulent claims.
The Defendants:
4 were arrested this week, while a half-dozen others remain at large.
They are accused of buying damaged vehicles with high mileage, then submitting false damage or theft claims, defrauding insurance companies in the process, according to prosecutors and the California Department of Insurance.
Investigators allege the suspects filed about three dozen false claims over the course of four years, with 56 vehicles used in the alleged scheme.
Some of the vehicles’ odometers were rolled back to increase their value before being damaged or reported stolen, according to prosecutors, who allege the defendants also damaged some of the vehicles themselves after insuring them.
A tip to the District Attorney’s Office sparked the investigation led to the arrests of four of the alleged ring’s members on Thursday.
Charges have also been filed against the six defendants who remain at large.