Seven people were arrested Tuesday in connection with an alleged auto insurance fraud scheme at seven body shops in the Coachella Valley.
Forty people were charged by the Riverside County District Attorney’s office, according to the Press Enterprise. Another 22 suspects. are expected to surrender soon and 11 remain at large.
The D.A. claims that the suspects were received $560,492 in payouts after submitting up to 40 false insurance claims for car crashes that were either staged or never happened.
The body shops involved were Tiger Auto Collision Center in Indio, Supreme Auto Collision in Indio, Diamond Auto Body in Indio, All Valley Auto Body in Desert Hot Springs, Ferrari Auto Collision in Indio, 760 Auto Collision in Indio and Superior Auto Body in Indio.
The suspects arrested by investigators from the California Department of Insurance and the Urban Auto Insurance Fraud Task Force during “Operation All in the Family” were:
- Isaac Espinoza Villa, 30, of Indio
- Luz Virgin, 42, of Indio
- Samuel Salvador Gomez, 42, of Indio
- Moises Saldana Paredes, 27, of Coachella
- Mauricio Lopez-Castro, 29, of Coachella
- Jose Manuel Luna, 50, of Palm Desert
- Erika Feliz, 36, of Indio
“Insurance fraud schemes like this one steal from our local communities in the form of higher premiums,” Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said in a statement. “The insurance fraud perpetrated by these defendants is alleged to have caused a loss of more than $500,000, a cost that ultimately is passed on to consumers. We have to do everything that can be done to stop these criminals from defrauding the public.”
