A federal jury has convicted a San Francisco man of conspiracy, wire fraud, and money laundering in connection with a scheme involving fraudulent insurance claims on already-wrecked vehicles, prosecutors said.
Colin Jackson, 39, was found guilty Wednesday following a seven-day trial before U.S. District Judge Trina L. Thompson, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors said Jackson conspired with others, including previously convicted defendant Kirill Afanasyev, to defraud an automobile insurance company by filing false claims involving damaged cars that had already been wrecked.
According to prosecutors, evidence presented at trial showed Jackson obtained an insurance policy in 2018 on a vehicle that was undrivable and made false statements on the application, including the car’s estimated annual mileage.
Months later, Jackson and Afanasyev submitted a fraudulent claim involving a staged accident, prosecutors said.
The insurance company, unaware the vehicle had already been wrecked, approved the claim and paid Jackson about $27,000, prosecutors said.
Authorities said the pair carried out a similar scheme in 2017 involving another damaged vehicle, resulting in an insurance payout of about $30,000.
Jackson is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 25.
Federal officials said more than a dozen defendants have pleaded guilty or been convicted as part of an ongoing investigation into automobile insurance fraud and a related arson conspiracy.
Based in New York, Stephen Freeman is a Senior Editor at Trending Insurance News. Previously he has worked for Forbes and The Huffington Post. Steven is a graduate of Risk Management at the University of New York.