Insurance fraud, YouTube & a series of intentional auto accidents
Both cases involve YouTube channels, where the alleged fraudsters aired videos of the accidents and other incidents.
If you’re going to make insurance fraud a regular thing, a side hustle is crucial for making ends meet during the lull between schemes.
For three Californians — charged in unrelated but similar incidents of insurance fraud — chasing down those ad dollars on YouTube was a way to supplement their fraud-derived income, while leveraging footage of their crimes, according to the California Department of Insurance.
On March 22, 2023, Eliu Canales was arraigned on March 22, 2023, on 54 felony counts of insurance fraud, assault with a deadly weapon and reckless driving, the state’s insurance department reported.
Canales, who worked as a tow truck driver for AAA and taught defensive driving, is alleged to have claimed more than $86,000 in damages, and collected more than $35,000 from insurance companies, following staged accidents.
From 2017-2022, he perpetrated approximately 22 vehicle collisions in and around Stockton, California. According to the insurance department, Canales would ride in the blind spot of an unsuspecting motorist and wait for the driver to change lanes, at which time Canales would accelerate and sometimes turn into the other vehicle. Immediately following the collisions, Canales would file claims against the other driver’s insurance company.
The alleged scammer from Stockton would record the incidents and upload them to his YouTube channel, which was titled “Stockton Drivers” and highlighted the area’s “bad drivers.” Most of the videos have now been removed from the site, the California Department of Insurance reported.
Canales is scheduled to return to court on March 29, 2023.
With child in tow
Meanwhile, some 390 miles south of Stockton in San Bernardino, Christopher Phelps and his wife Kimberly were causing similar mayhem and capturing it on video. To make matters worse, the couple’s child was present in the vehicle during a number of the incidents, according to the state’s insurance department. The pair were arrested on March 23, 2023.
According to the California Department of Insurance, Phelps’ YouTube channel featured approximately 162 videos of collisions, attempted or near collisions, road rage incidents and other content involving the couple.
Around 23 of the collisions documented in the videos were linked to 17 insurance claims filed by Christopher Phelps. More than 40 of the videos related to road rage incidents and attempted collisions involving Phelps.
In February 2023, Christopher Phelps was also arrested for insurance fraud. In that instance, the San Bernardino Sheriff notified the insurance department that Phelps was involved in a suspicious collision, in which he stopped for no apparent reason and caused a truck pulling a trailer to rear-end his vehicle.
Shortly after that collision, a rear-facing dashcam video of the accident was posted on YouTube. Insurance department detectives searched the area near the accident for surveillance camera footage and witnesses, which lead to Phelps’ February arrest. He had posted bond and was released following that incident.
After his March 2023 arrest, Christopher Phelps was charged with 11 felony counts of insurance fraud, six counts of assault with a deadly weapon and five felony counts of child endangerment. Kimberly Phelps has been charged with two counts of felony child endangerment and one count of insurance fraud.
As of March 24, 2023, both were being held on $500,000 bail.
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