San Jose Fraud Ring Staged 20 Crashes In Four Years

Even for crummy drivers, 20 car crashes in four years is a lot. But no one noticed that the same people were involved in the car accidents and had collected more than $140,000 in insurance until an anonymous tipster called the Silicon Valley Auto Insurance Fraud task force. Now, the owner of a San Jose body shop, his common-law wife and seven others have been charged with felony fraud for reporting fictional accidents and staging crashes, using a variety of names and addresses. The 20 "crashes" from 2011 to 2015 involved such luxury models as Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar and Maserati.