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Elvira Marcela Santamaria of Baldwin Park, Calif., turned herself in to the Tulare Superior Court, Visalia Division, after learning a five-count auto insurance fraud and grand theft warrant had been issued for her arrest.

The 22-year-old woman was hired in January 2000 as a contract employee by the Farmers Insurance claims office in Visalia. She was responsible for issuing auto insurance claim checks to insureds and claimants. After two months of employment, a fellow employee discovered that a claim check had been issued to Santamaria despite her not being a party to the loss.

When confronted, she initially denied responsibility, but later admitted to Farmers Insurance auditors and District Attorney investigators that she issued a total of five claim checks to herself between March 2000 and April 2000, without authorization, from five different auto claims totaling more than $2,400. Prior to the criminal complaint being filed, Santamaria paid back the funds she had taken from Farmers.