June 30, 2022
OLYMPIA, Wash. – Michael Aramde of Seattle and Lamin Jatta, of Shoreline, have been added to Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler’s most wanted after they failed to appear in King County Superior Court to face felony charges of filing false insurance claims.
If you have information that may lead to their arrests, please contact your local law enforcement agency, or contact Kreidler's Criminal Investigations Unit (CIU).
In May, Michael Aramde was charged with filing a fraudulent insurance claim after an investigation by CIU. The investigation alleges that on Jan. 9, 2021, Aramde was involved in a vehicle collision in Seattle. Aramde did not have insurance at the time, so he purchased a policy online with Progressive and filed a claim the next day.
Progressive obtained a copy of the collision report and discovered that the collision occurred prior to Aramde’s policy inception. They denied Aramde’s claim for $16,869 to repair his 2016 Audi Q3. After his claim was denied, Aramde filed another claim on Jan. 28, 2021, stating his vehicle had been involved in a second collision. Progressive also investigated this claim and found that the vehicle had been in a tow yard since Jan. 9, 2021, until it was repossessed on Jan. 26, 2021, and Aramde had not been in possession of the vehicle at the time of this second collision. The company denied this second claim as well and referred both claims to CIU.
Similarly, Lamin Jatta was charged by King County Prosecutor’s Office with filing a fraudulent insurance claim after an investigation by CIU. On Nov. 28, 2021, Jatta called Progressive insurance and filed a claim for damages to his vehicle. Jatta stated that an unknown vehicle had hit his vehicle and fled the scene. While Progressive was processing Jatta’s claim, they discovered Jatta had been involved in a collision on Nov. 5, 2021, which had been investigated by Seattle Police. At the time of that collision, Jatta was uninsured. Progressive compared the damages from the Nov. 5 collision with the damage from what Jatta claimed occurred on Nov. 28, and the damages appeared to be the same. Progressive denied Jatta’s claim for $5,000 and referred the claim to CIU.
CIU investigates insurance fraud and works with the Washington State Patrol 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 Washington’s Office of the Insurance Commissioner.
If you suspect someone of committing insurance fraud, report it to Kreidler’s investigators.