September 17, 2019
OLYMPIA, Wash. – Roberto Roman-Salgado pleaded guilty in Yakima County Superior Court to filing a false auto insurance claim. Salgado will serve 25 days of electronic home monitoring and will pay $500 in court fees.
Officials charged Salgado after an investigation by Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler’s Criminal Investigations Unit (CIU).
According to the investigation, Roman-Salgado totaled his uninsured car on Sept. 28, 2018, in Yakima Valley when he fell asleep while driving. He bought auto insurance from Progressive on Oct. 2 and filed a $10,131 claim the next day. Progressive found tow records showing the collision happened before the policy was purchased and denied the claim. Progressive referred the case to Kreidler’s CIU.
In a separate case, Sheri Lynn Danner was charged in King County Superior Court with one felony count of filing a fraudulent insurance claim.
According to the investigation, Danner filed a renter insurance claim with Assurant in January 2017 for the reported theft of 15 items valued at $5,682 from her parked car. She substantiated the claim with receipts from Amazon.com that the company told investigators were falsified. Assurant denied the claim and referred the case to Kreidler’s CIU.
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.