Olympia, Wash. — Michael C. Madsen of Bellevue learned the hard way that insurance fraud does not pay. Earlier this month, he was convicted in King County Superior Court for filing a fraudulent insurance claim, a class C felony.

The charges against Madsen stem from two separate incidents in which he claimed the loss of a DVD system that was not installed in either vehicle when they were broken into. His insurance company, State Farm, became suspicious when Madsen filed the second claim and began investigating.

The investigation was then handed over to the Insurance Commissioner’s Special Investigations Unit, which has the authority to seek criminal charges in insurance fraud cases. Without this unit, the insurer’s only option is to try to recoup the money it paid out in claims.

Because he is a first-time offender, Madsen received a sentence of 31 days for his crime. He was given credit for one day served and the remaining 30 days were converted to community service. He also will have to pay restitution to State Farm, the amount of which has not yet been determined.

To learn more about insurance fraud and how it affects consumers, visit the Insurance Commissioner’s Web site at www.insurance.wa.gov and click on Fraud in the left-hand column.

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