Investigators from the California Department of Insurance (CDI) arrested Frankie Lopez II, 26, and Gina Marie Martino, 27, both of Stockton, on three felony counts each of insurance fraud. Lopez and Martino were booked into the San Joaquin County Jail, and bail was set at $25,000. If convicted, each could face up to five years in state prison and/or a maximum fine of $50,000. The San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case.
According to investigators, in July 1998, Lopez filed a claim with Cal Farm Insurance in which he allegedly stated that diving equipment had been stolen from his vehicle while it was parked unattended in front of a sporting goods store in Fremont.
In October 1998, Lopez and Martino filed claims with Allstate Insurance and Agegis Security Insurance. The claims stated Lopez’s 1995 Acura LS was stolen from a parking lot in Monterey. A claim for the diving equipment was also placed as Lopez and Martino claimed that equipment was inside the vehicle. The vehicle was recovered a short time later, partially burned, with all of the dive equipment missing. Agegis Security Insurance paid $9,567 on this claim.
CDI investigators further alleged that Lopez and Martino filed claims listing some of the same diving equipment in each claim, as well as some equipment they never possessed. During a deposition, Lopez recanted his story and stated that a number of the items he claimed during the alleged vehicle theft, were not in fact stolen.
As a result of Lopez and Martino’s fraudulent activities, Cal Farm Insurance and Agegis Security Insurance paid a combined total of $16,363.
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