February 12, 2021
OLYMPIA, Wash. – Vijay K. Prasad pleaded guilty in King County Superior Court on Jan. 27 to attempted insurance fraud in connection with an auto insurance claim. Prasad will serve 20 days in a community alternative program and will be on unsupervised probation for 20 months.
Officials charged Prasad in 2019 after an investigation by Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler’s Criminal Investigations Unit (CIU).
According to the investigation, Prasad filed an auto insurance claim with Progressive Insurance on Sept. 20, 2018. She stated that she was in a collision on her way to work that morning while driving her 2008 Kia Rondo. Progressive’s records show that Prasad reinstated her lapsed policy on the car at 7:27 a.m. that day. A police report showed the collision happened at 6:37 a.m. and another Progressive policyholder who was involved in the collision reported it occurred at 6:34 a.m., before Prasad had coverage.
Progressive denied the claim and referred the case to Kreidler’s CIU, as required by state law.
Kreidler’s 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 the commissioner.
Consumers can report suspected insurance fraud on the insurance commissioner’s website.