$180,000 Auto Insurance Fraud Case Results in 6-year Prison Sentence
Photo: Hani Abijudeh
SAN BERNARDINO — On Thursday, 55-year Rancho Cucamonga resident Hani Abujudeh was sentenced to six years in prison for his role in an auto insurance fraud scheme.
Abujudeh filed at least 35 fraudulent claims, manipulated odometers and titles, and used fake IDs of victims to sell cars on Craigslist and Auto Trader. Authorities also discovered 25 fraudulent CA drivers licenses.
The charges he pled guilty to are auto insurance fraud, money laundering , perjury, false impersonation, and grand theft.
25 fake DLs
Along with his prison time, Abujudeh was ordered to pay $183,475.22 in restitution to his victims — 15 individuals and 4 insurance companies.
“California is ground zero for auto insurance fraud, which is paid for by consumers when insurers pass along their fraud losses through higher premiums,” said Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones. “Thanks to the hard work of our investigators at the Department of Insurance, our taskforce partners, and the San Bernardino District Attorney’s office, Abujudeh’s crimes were exposed and he was successfully prosecuted.”
Abujudeh’s company was known as Perfect Auto Detailers. His ruse consisted of claims that cars that were being taken to his shop crashed on the way there.
27-year-old Eduardo Hernandez, 26-year-old Francisco Aguilera, and 29-year-old Dane Santibanez conspired with Abujudeh in this scheme, in which they damaged their vehicles for the insurance proceeds.
