The Orange County District Attorney's Office said investigators carried out "Operation Straight Body" from January to May, the Los Angeles Times reported. They visited repair shops with a car that was missing a rear bumper and had other damage, including a dent in the rear hatch, explained the car had been purchased without the bumper and asked mechanics to include the cost of replacement in an insurance claim with the other damage.
The 53 who agreed were rounded up Wednesday and Thursday, District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said in a statement. They included Richard Evans, who hosts "Chop, Cut, Rebuild" on the Speed Channel.
"Insurance fraud hurts every Orange County family because insurance companies pass on the cost of fraud to their customers," Rackauckas said.
Copyright 2010 United Press International, Inc. (UPI).
This is an absolute scam by
This is an absolute scam by the OC District Attorney. I can't believe that the OC District Attorney would post the names, age and the shops where the employees worked as well as their PICTURES on the internet. This same thing happened in the IE years ago and nearly EVERY charge was dropped yet nothing was ever retracted. What ever happened to "innocent until proven guilty" in this country? The collision repair business is a tight knit industry. The lives of these professionals are ruined! Why? so the OC District Attorney can gain some face time in the media. These Professionals came to work and did their jobs and wrote "estimates" to repair a damaged vehicle. No vehicles were repaired. No insurance companies or individuals were charged for any repairs done. It's not the job of a collision estimator to determine what is and what isn't related on a claim when someone comes in and asks for an estimate to repair a vehicle. That responsibility lies with the insurance adjuster who writes their OWN estimate to repair the vehicle and decides what is prior or pre-existing damages. Anyone who knows the ins and outs of collision repair and claims knows this. All claims paid by an insurance company go through their own "adjuster" or "appraiser" who will among many things check the vehicle and the policy for any prior damage to the vehicle when it was added to the policy. Cleary the OC District Attorney does not understand the process!
If my name were on this list or if I was one of the shop owners I would hire an attorney and sue the OC District Attorney and the news outlets that are posting their names and photos.
INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY!!!
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