Sacramento DA Names Accomplice in Windshield Insurance Fraud Case
July 11, 2013

by Jenna Reed, jreed@glass.com

The alleged accomplice to Jacob Dufur, 22, who recently pled guilty to a felony charge of insurance fraud for submitting fraudulent work orders on windshield repairs has been named.

He is Jeremy Horstman and an arrest warrant for insurance fraud has been issued in his name.

"There are still outstanding aspects of this case that we are pursuing," says Dale Kitching, Supervising Deputy DA. "He is believed to be in Mississippi and we are trying to persuade him to return to California to resolve his case.

"The California Department of Insurance and our office are also working on a similar case, which we hope to conclude in September," he adds. "I believe it will be helpful to the industry to be aware of the MO (modus operandi) used in these cases so we can prevent additional fraud."

Dufur and Horstman were employed as windshield repair technicians for a Chipio franchise that specialized in repairing small windshield cracks.

"Between May 7, 2011 and March 19, 2012, Dufur and an accomplice submitted 121 fraudulent work orders to the parent company, Chipio Inc., for payment on windshield repairs that neither of them had repaired," Sacramento DA Jan Scully said in an earlier statement.

"After paying Dufur and his accomplice for the alleged cost of the windshield repairs, the parent company then submitted the work orders to the customers' automobile insurance companies for payment," the DA continued. "The franchise, the parent company and the insurance companies ended up paying $7,373 on the fraudulent work orders."

Dufur faces a sentence of two years in state prison. His sentencing is set for July 24 in Sacramento County Superior Court.

This story is an original story by AGRR™ magazine/glassBYTEs.com™. Subscribe to AGRR™ Magazine.
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