Man in car insurance scam gets 30 days

The Superior Court handed down a 30-day prison term on a man who was among several persons involved in a car insurance scam.

Associate Judge David A. Wiseman sentenced Xin Mao Zheng, alias Amao, to three years in prison, all suspended except for 30 days, for theft by deception.

Wiseman gave Zheng credit for the time he has already served in jail and placed him under two years of supervised probation.

The judge required Zheng to fully cooperate in the prosecution of his co-conspirators.

The defendant was ordered to pay restitution to be determined by the court, a $500 fine, $100 court assessment fee, plus a probation fee.

Wiseman directed Zheng to write a letter of apology to the victim, AON Insurance Micronesia (Saipan).

The defendant was told to present himself at the Department of Corrections on Dec. 3 at 8am to start his prison term.

In July 2008, the Attorney General’s Office filed an amended information charging Zheng with one count of conspiracy, and two counts of theft by deception.

The defendant and counsel Vicente T. Salas signed a plea agreement with the government, represented by special assistant attorney general Joseph J. Przyuski.

Zheng pleaded guilty to one count of theft by deception. The AGO agreed to dismiss the remaining charges.

According to the plea agreement, on March 14, 2008, Zheng submitted a false police report and falsified documents in support of a fraudulent insurance claim to AON Insurance. He received a check from the company in the amount of $6,870.

Police arrested Zheng and Yuan Fu Li, both of Shun Fa Auto Shop in Koblerville, for their reported involvement in the car insurance scam.

Detective Patrick Earl Maanao stated in his report that the arrest of Zheng and Li was made after Serafin Esperancilla, who was earlier arrested because of the scam, confessed to police his participation and implicated the two defendants.

Maanao said Sgt. Hillary Tagabuel, who was also charged in the scam earlier, admitted forging a total of 41 traffic crash reports (TCRs).

Maanao said Tagabuel stated that most of the TCRs he prepared last year was for his co-defendant, Yu Jai Feng “Lili” Cepeda and that he started dealing with Esperancilla last January.

The detective said that during interviews with operators or owners of some vehicles mentioned in the forged TCRs, many were unaware that their vehicles were involved in accidents.

Based on testimony of some operators or owners of the vehicles, the investigators learned that defendants Zheng and Li were using the vehicles in the fake accident claims.

In this scam, AON Insurance paid for the repair of the vehicles to the auto shop.

Police earlier disclosed that three insurance companies, including Century Insurance, were victims in this scam.

Maanao said that under the scheme, the average payout by the insurance companies were anywhere between $8,000 to $25,000 per traffic crash report.