Convicted Sex Offender Arrested for Insurance Fraud

Investigators from the California Department of Insurance (CDI) arrested a convicted sex offender this month for insurance fraud. Jairo Richard Alonso Espana, a co-conspirator in the fraud, was arrested at his probation officer’s office without incident and booked at the West Valley Jail. Bail was set at $15,000. He is currently on probation and a probation hold was placed on him, making it unlikely he will be released from jail investigators say.

Edwin Portillo was also arrested for insurance fraud. The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case.

A CDI investigation revealed that Portillo was involved in a traffic collision with another vehicle in March 2001. Portillo later claimed that Espana was a passenger at the time of the accident. The driver of the other vehicle and an independent witness verified that there was no one else in Portillo’s vehicle at the time of the collision. Espana later told investigators that Portillo’s two-year old daughter was also in the vehicle at the time of the accident. Allegedly, Portillo did not report this because the child was not in a child safety seat and both feared the child might be taken from Portillo if that was discovered.

Further investigation revealed that Espana was a registered sex offender but failed to properly de-register from his prior city of residence and re-register in the City of San Bernardino. Charges of failure to properly register were added to the complaint. Portillo could face up to five years in state prison if convicted on the insurance fraud count.

Investigators say Espana could face up to twenty years for the insurance fraud, probation violation and sex offender registering count.

Topics Fraud