Scammer gets 5 Years for Windshield Repair Insurance Fraud

One Arizona man is in a lot of trouble with the law today, and his bank account balance, due to his insurance fraud scam which involved phony claims for windshields repair from 16 different insurance companies.

Michael Swedo is set to spend five years in prison for defrauding 16 Arizona insurance companies out of more than $83,000.

According to the Arizona Daily Star, Swedo’s scam involved filing phony claims for windshield repairs using the names of at least 200 policyholders, including victims from Pima, Cochise, Pinal, Yavapai and Maricopa counties.

A Maricopa County Superior Court judge sentenced Swedo, 36, Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to fraudulent schemes for submitting fake claims to insurance. He also committed identity theft to set up a false business under a bogus name.

Along with the 5 years in prison, Swedo has also been ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and reimburse $83,356.

The Arizona Department of Insurance states that from November of 2010 to April of 2011 Swedo submitted hundreds of phony claims to numerous insurance companies for windshield replacements. He used the identity of Duane Cipolla and Cipolla Auto Glass and posed as both the insured and as an employee. Swedo operated the business out of Payson and used a PO Box address in Mesa.

State officials say that with the help of other suspects, Swedo obtained old glass repair work orders from at least 15 different glass companies. These work orders contained client names, addresses, phone numbers, vehicle information, and insurance policy information, which Swedo used to file fraudulent windshield replacement claims with multiple insurance companies.

Swedo had previously served a prison sentence for armed robbery and aggravated assault in Maricopa County, after which he was released in 2008. Maybe after this he will learn to stay out of trouble.