September 13, 2022
OLYMPIA, Wash. – Ricardo Carmona and Saul Perez both recently pled guilty to insurance fraud in Yakima County Superior Court.
Ricardo Carmona, of Yakima and Saul Perez, of Wapato were recently convicted of insurance fraud after a criminal investigation by the Criminal Investigations Unit (CIU) of the Office of the Insurance Commissioner. Carmona and Perez both pled guilty to the charges of false claims or proof, attempted first degree theft, and criminal conspiracy. They were each ordered to pay $600 in court fees and sentenced to three months electronic home monitoring.
CIU’s investigation asserts that Ricardo Carmona was involved in a vehicle collision in February 2021. He did not have insurance at the time of the accident and called Saul Perez, an insurance agent, to incept a policy. Saul Perez was aware that Carmona had been in a collision and decided to write a policy for him anyway. When investigators from Farmers Insurance looked further into the claim, not only did Carmona misrepresent the time of loss stating it occurred after the policy inception, Perez also continued the misrepresentations to Farmer’s investigators.
Perez also said that Carmona had written the policy in person and not over the phone and that he had also seen the vehicle. Farmers investigators noted discrepancies between Carmona and Perez’s statements. When confronted about these inconsistencies, Perez admitted that Carmona had been in the accident prior to getting insurance and that he’d been trying to help him out. Farmers denied Carmona’s claim for $10,987.11 and referred it to CIU, as required by state law.
CIU investigates insurance fraud and works with allied law enforcement agencies and state and local prosecutors on criminal cases. Insurance fraud costs the average family $400 to $700 per year in increased premiums. Insurance companies are required by law to report fraud to the insurance commissioner.
If you suspect someone of committing insurance fraud, report it to Washington state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler’s investigators.