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To crack down on automobile insurance fraud, the California Department of Insurance, Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office and the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) conducted an undercover sting operation targeting auto body repair facilities across Contra Costa County. The operation resulted in eight felony counts of insurance fraud against four individuals, Estephanie Gonzalez-Marquez, 26, of Pittsburg, Marco Antonio Hernandez Santizo, 49, of San Pablo, Kyle Alan Coburn, 30, of Elk Grove, and Vu Phong Hoang, 33, of Clayton.

One sting operation uncovered repair shop employees allegedly providing undercover officers with written bogus documentation to give their insurance company to support fraudulent insurance claims. In another sting, body shop personnel coached the undercover officer on telling a phony story to the insurance company, including allegedly telling the undercover officer to lie about when and how the vehicle damage occurred.

“These suspects brazenly worked to rip off insurance companies by making bogus insurance claims,” said Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara. “We are tackling the issue of insurance fraud head on, and are taking proactive steps to educate the public and provide a deterrent message to those knowingly breaking the law. Insurance fraud is not a victimless crime.

“We all pay for the cost of fraud through higher premiums. Working with our partners at the District Attorney’s Office and the NICB will help fight this multimillion dollar problem and bring fraudsters to justice.”  

Auto insurance fraud is one of the most common types of fraud in California, with estimates in the tens of millions of dollars annually.

Marco Antonio Hernandez and Estephanie Gonzalez-Marquez were indicted by a Grand Jury in December 2019. Both individuals recently appeared in court for the first time. Kyle Alan Coburn and Vu Hoang were arrested by Department of Insurance detectives earlier Friday, February 21st. The Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the cases. 

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lonce@adjustercom.com, Lonce Lamonte, editor; and the California Department of Insurance, news release dated February 21, 2020