“Stolen” Lexus Leads to Fraud Charges, Guilty Pleas

Having never had a car stolen, I would have to imagine that it’s a really good feeling once you get it back. One Philadelphia woman would disagree with that though, since she was the one who lied about a car being stolen in the first place in order to get the insurance money out of a scam concocted by her and a business associate.

According to PhillyBurbs.com, Kathleen B. Chung, 69, pled guilty earlier this week to her involvement –along with a MontgomeryCounty man, in the car-insurance scam. She admitted to filing a false insurance claim after lying about the theft of a 2008 Lexus LX400h.

Chung entered an open guilty plea to insurance fraud, conspiracy and making false reports to the insurance company.

The man, Kyung Soon Kim, 52, pled guilty back in January to theft and conspiracy charges.

The charges come out of a claim that was made for the alleged theft of the Lexus from a shopping center in Cheltenham.

The car was purchased back in November of 2007 by Chung’s son, but before he could ever pick up the vehicle, he moved to Korea.

Meanwhile, Kim –Chung’s friend and business partner, had sole possession of the vehicle and put about 45,000 miles on it from December of 2007 through December of 2008, according to court records.

Then, on December 13, 2008, Chung called 911 to report that the car had been stolen. Liberty Mutual later paid the claim totaling $42,053.70. That includes a $33,774 payment to Lexus Financial and a $8,279.65 payment to Chung on behalf of her son.

When asked by Attorney General insurance investigators though, Chung and Kim gave different versions on how the scam happened.

Chung told investigators that Kim had pressured her on several occasions to report the car stolen, according to court records. She alleged that Kim told her to park the car at the shopping center, leave the keys in the vehicle and then report it stolen, advising her what to say to police and the 911 dispatcher, according to court records.

According to the criminal complaint, Chung told authorities that she went along with Kim’s instructions on December 12, 2008. Kim then later drove the car from the shopping center to his home where he hid it in his garage.

Authorities found the vehicle in Kim’s garage on November 3, 2011.

Kim told investigators that Chung called him, advising him that the car had been stolen and that she had reported it stolen but that she then later found the car in the parking lot, according to court documents. He later admitted he knew the car was going to be reported stolen and went to the parking lot, driving it to his home where he stored it, according to court documents.

Both parties are currently awaiting sentencing.