Washington Couple Sentenced in Insurance Fraud Case

A Tacoma, Wash., couple who filed a falsified insurance claim, including a forged receipt for a 57-inch TV allegedly purchased from a stranger for $5,800 in cash, have been sentenced, the state Office of the Insurance Commissioner reported.

The OIC said Melissa and Anthony Mezias also claimed that burglars had stolen a $3,000 Persian rug they had purchased from their next-door neighbor. When investigators from the state insurance commissioner’s Special Investigations Unit questioned the neighbor, he said he’d never sold them a Persian rug, and that the couple was looking for someone to pretend to be the seller so they could collect money from their insurance company.

The Mezias, brought $8,800 in restitution to their sentencing hearing in Pierce County Superior Court.

In addition to full restitution, Anthony Mezias will have to pay more than $1,000 in court fees and costs on one charge of first-degree theft. Melissa Mezias will pay $700 in fees and costs on one count of attempted false claims in an insurance case.

Source: OIC