Weymouth; Mass. Man Convicted Of Motor Vehicle Insurance Fraud, Larceny And Perjury

February 08, 2008 -- BOSTON - Today, a Norfolk Superior Court jury convicted a Weymouth, Massachusetts man of larceny and insurance fraud in connection with his use of a deceased individual’s name and information to obtain motor vehicle insurance. Christopher A. Falco, age 25, was convicted of Motor Vehicle Insurance Fraud (two counts), Larceny over $250 (two counts), and Perjury. Superior Court Judge Janet Sanders sentenced Falco to serve two years in the Norfolk House of Correction, six months committed, with the balance suspended for three years. During his probation, Falco must submit to random drug screening.

An investigation was conducted by the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office in 2006 after receiving a complaint from the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB). In April 2004, Falco obtained insurance coverage for his two vehicles through Commerce Insurance Company (“Commerce”). In his application, Falco listed a deceased individual as the sole operator of the vehicles. The deceased individual had a Step 9 rating and qualified for a 25% senior citizen discount. At the time of the application, Falco was a habitual traffic offender with a Step 29 rating. As a result of Falco’s misstatements on his application, Commerce issued an insurance policy to Falco at a rate based on the deceased individual’s driving record and the premium charged to Falco was nearly $2,000 less than the premium that would have been charged using Falco’s Step 29 rating.

Upon Commerce’s discovery of the inaccuracies in Falco’s application, they deleted the deceased person from the policy and re-rated the policy based on Falco’s driving record. At that point, Falco canceled his policy and transferred it to Arbella Insurance Company (“Arbella”). At the time of transferral, Falco owed Commerce nearly $1,500 in earned premiums on a pro-rated basis. On his Arbella application, Falco made numerous misstatements. Authorities found that Falco failed to disclose that his license had been revoked, that he owed a premium to another insurance carrier, and that his Commerce policy had been canceled for non-payment of the premium. In addition, the company stated that Falco did not disclose the use of one of the vehicles for business purposes. Arbella maintains that if they had been given this information, the company would not have issued Falco a policy.

Falco was charged with perjury for the alleged misstatements he made at a deposition on January 17, 2006. Falco testified at a deposition held in connection with a civil lawsuit that he filed against Arbella. The misstatements relate to the information he provided in his application for insurance with Arbella. The company canceled Falco’s insurance policy after conducting their investigation. Commerce and Arbella then referred the matter to the IFB.

A Norfolk Grand Jury indicted Falco on November 15, 2006. On December 7, 2006, Falco was arraigned in Norfolk Superior Court where he pled not guilty.

His trial began on February 4, 2008, and lasted for three days. The jury deliberated for nearly 10 hours before returning their verdict. Falco will begin serving his sentence today.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Kajal K. Chattopadhyay, of Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Insurance and Unemployment Fraud Division. Investigators assigned to the Attorney General's Office and the Insurance Fraud Bureau of Massachusetts also assisted with the case.

Source: Massachusetts Attorney General

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