📋 Tender Overview
An investigation by the California Department of Insurances Automobile Insurance Fraud Task Force comprised of the Department of Insurance San Diego County District Attorneys Office and the California Highway Patrol led to the arrest of Zaharia Bakier 34 on three felony counts of insurance fraud after he allegedly staged an automobile collision which resulted in a fraudulent insurance payout of 27000.Bakier booked a one-way ticket to Turkey quit his job and fled the United States after the San Diego District Attorneys Office filed charges against him in June 2019.On January 7 2020 investigators learned Bakier was expected to arrive in the United States via the Los Angeles International Airport. Bakier has been taken into custody and booked into jail for his outstanding arrest warrant.This suspect attempted to evade punishment for his alleged insurance fraud by fleeing the country but he could not escape the reach of our investigators said Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara. Let this case be an example of how far the Department of Insurance and our partners will go to combat auto insurance fraud that raises costs for all California drivers.In May 2018 investigators from the California Department of Insurance received an anonymous email reporting Bakier had staged a collision. The investigation led to Bakiers confession that he was responsible for the collision which caused a total loss to his vehicle. Investigators allege that he borrowed a blue pickup truck from a friend used the pickup truck to cause damage to his vehicle and then returned his friends vehicle. Bakier then reported to his insurance company his vehicle was damaged by a hit and run driver and deemed a total loss to receive 27000 from the victim insurer.The San Diego County District Attorneys Office is prosecuting this case. Arraignment is scheduled for 130 p.m. on January 16 in the San Diego Superior Court downtown.
