Covering up the truth and then lying about it even further has landed a couple into big trouble.
Samuel Pena, 46 years of age and his employee wife Tammy Pena, 46 years of age are facing felony charges for making fraudulent claims against the worker compensation system by falsely reporting a car accident while on the job according to authorities as reported by LOHUD.COM, an affiliate news site of USA Today.
Samuel Pena owns and operates Sam’s Professional Window Tinting which is a vehicle window tinting business in Nanuet, New York. Tammy Pena is listed as an employee of the business.
Tammy Pena took a client’s brand new Mercedes SUV off of a road near her home and into a tree which completely totaled the vehicle according to authorities.
Tammy told the insurance company the accident occurred after picking a client’s vehicle for service (according to authorities).
Tammy filed a Workers’ Compensation claim in May of 2015.
Samuel Pena filed many documents with the Workers’ Compensation Board supporting his wife’s claims that she was working at the time of the accident
The Workers’ Compensation insurance company paid over $45,000 for medical bills and wage benefits for Tammy Pena’s alleged claim.
What the Investigation Revealed
Investigators determined Tammy was not working at the time of the accident.
It was determined that Samuel had actually text messaged the client minutes before the accident took place to let the client know that more work had to be done on the vehicle. However, the investigation revealed at the time of the text the work had already been completed.
Samuel allegedly submitted fraudulent documentation when applying for Worker’s Compensation insurance in order to have a smaller premium.
Tammyl is accused of exaggerating and requesting reimbursement for wages she was paid post-accident.
What They Were Charged With
Tammy Pena was charged with third-degree grand larceny, two counts each of Workers’ Compensation crime of fraudulent practice, first-degree falsifying business records and one count of third-degree insurance fraud.
Samuel Pena faces two counts each of third-degree grand larceny and Workers’ Compensation crime of fraudulent practices, first-degree falsifying business records, and third-degree insurance fraud.
Final Thoughts on This Insurance Fraud News Story
There is planned insurance fraud and opportunity insurance fraud. It is also better known as Hard and Soft Insurance Fraud. And I think this falls more on the side of opportunity fraud.
There was an opportunity to lower their insurance premiums by fudging numbers.
They both claimed Tammy was working to get doctor bills covered and alleged wages. I would assume this wasn’t planned until after the accident took place.
Much of the fraud could have been avoided after the accident took place but they kept building on one lie after another until it came crashing down.
Insurance fraud comes in all forms and happens for various reasons. When it is all said and done, no matter how big or small the fraud is, fraud is still fraud. Cheating the system whether it be a small cheat or a big cheat, it is still cheating.
I am sure after some interviews, witness accounts, digging into financial files and checking phone records, it wasn’t hard to piece together the fraud.
There will always be a story of fraud and next week I will share another.
Andrew
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