December 1, 2022
OLYMPIA, Wash. — Andrew M. Rodriguez and Marissa L. Lopez, both of Sunnyside, Wash., pleaded guilty to first degree theft in an insurance fraud case in Yakima County.
Rodriguez, 31, and Lopez, 28, were sentenced on October 20, 2022 to 80 hours of community service and ordered to pay $17,022.41 in total restitution. The case was investigated by the Criminal Investigations Unit of the Office of the Insurance Commissioner.
In October 2017, Rodriguez filed a claim with National General Insurance Company after damage sustained to the loaner car — a Nissan Versa — he was driving while his Chevrolet Malibu was in the shop. According to Rodriguez in the claim, he was behind the wheel when the Nissan rear-ended a 2006 Acura and police did not respond to the collision.
National General paid for the damage to both vehicles and paid the garage repairing Rodriguez’s Malibu for its loss of the use of a loaner car. However, in January 2018 later a National General representative learned from the law firm representing the driver of the Acura that a police report had, in fact, been filed after the October collision.
That police report indicated that Lopez, an excluded driver on Rodriguez’s insurance policy, was actually driving at the time of the collision. National General’s investigative team conducted an interview with the driver of the other car in the collision, who confirmed this information.
National General provided its information on the suspected fraud to the CIU in January 2019. CIU’s investigators found that Lopez was driving during the collision and Rodriguez was not in the car; Lopez had also sent text messages to the other driver in the collision asking her to tell National General that Rodriguez had been behind the wheel.
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.