13 Arrested In Merced County, California Auto Insurance Fraud Ring

Joanna Tucker, 29, from Livingston, was described by Merced County District Attorney’s (DA) office investigator Sheri Carpenter as the "ringleader" of the scam and directly involved in 19 of the 20 claims. Her boyfriend, Johnathan Huerta, 30, also of Livingston, was indicted on 10 felony counts of insurance fraud and nine counts of grand theft. Carpenter said the investigation started when an Allstate Insurance investigator contacted her about a claim that she believed was a staged accident. Carpenter then ran the names through an insurance database which linked the claim to 19 other similar claims.