March 29, 2019
OLYMPIA, Wash. – Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler’s Criminal Investigations Unit (CIU) extradited insurance fraud most wanted suspect Jessica Epler from Pennsylvania this week to face felony charges of theft and insurance fraud in Spokane County.
Epler has been on Kreidler’s most wanted list since September 2018. Law enforcement officials in Leesport, Penn., arrested Epler during a traffic stop there on March 18. She waived her right to contest the extradition at a court hearing on March 22. Kreidler’s detectives escorted her to Spokane County Jail on March 27, where she remains in custody while she awaits a hearing.
According to Kreidler’s investigation, Epler added a diamond ring valued at $4,000 to her fiance’s renter’s insurance policy in August 2016. She filed a “mysterious disappearance” claim with the insurer, Liberty Mutual, on Oct. 2, 2016. Epler was an employee of Liberty Mutual at the time of the claim. She said she put the ring in her purse while she was out with friends and her purse went missing. Investigators found records showing that Epler sold the ring to a Spokane pawn shop on Sept. 26, 2016.
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.