REVscene Automotive Forum - GTR Crashes on Touge VS an EVO. Gets Busted for Insurance Fraud

I don't know if anybody remembers this video.

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog....r-accident.jpg

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Why is it that people engaged in illegal activities feel compelled to record their indiscretions? It's just a really, really bad idea. And a bad idea becomes an act of outright stupidity when said video is published on YouTube, where any random investigator can easily find evidence that can be used against the guilty party. This just makes sense, right? Obviously not for everyone.

According to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Jay Chen, the 21 year-old owner of a wrecked Nissan GT-R, apparently now knows this lesson all too late, as the accused street racer allegedly crashed his Ivory Godzilla on a Glendora mountain road in California. The SGVT reports that Chen and his sister Tracey gave insurance investigators conflicting testimony after the March, 2009 accident, sending up red flags. Chen later called the insurance company and informed them that he would pay for the damages himself, only to claim another accident three months later on 60 Freeway in Riverside, CA.

Unfortunately for Chen, during the paperwork processing following that 'second' accident, the body shop informed Chen's insurance company that it had been holding on to the mangled GT-R since March. Investigators then searched YouTube for any evidence of the incident, and apparently they believe that they've found it – the insurer alleges that the footage shown after the jump incident shows damage consistent with that of Chen's GT-R after a mountain run with a Mitsubishi Evolution IX MR goes awry. The actual crash doesn't look all that bad, but the apparent $76,000 repair bill shows that near-supercars can cost a boatload of money to fix.

Regardless of the severity of the accident, as a result of the investigation, Chen has officially been charged with six felony counts of insurance fraud, and his sister has been charged with one count. If you are in your late teens or early 20s and you're wondering why you're paying over $300 per month to insure your battered Honda Civic, hit the jump to see why.

From the News Report.

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A brother and sister from Diamond Bar were arrested on suspicion of insurance fraud this month after investigators found a video on the Internet that appears to show their high-performance sports car crashing during a street race.

Investigators say Jay Chen, 21, and his sister, Tracy Chen, 29, initially gave conflicting reports on what caused $76,000 in damage to Jay's Nissan 2009 GT-R supercar.

That made investigators suspicious, and when they searched the Internet, they found a YouTube video that appears to show the car crashing during a race up Glendora Mountain Road, according to officials from the state Insurance Commissioner's Office.

Neither of the Chens were immediately reached for comment.

Investigators say Jay first reported to his insurance company that his sister crashed the car on the 10 Freeway on March 16, 2009. They say the sister corroborated the story.

They say Jay later withdrew the claim and said he would pay for the repairs himself.

They allege Jay made another claim about three months later, this time saying he crashed the supercar on the 60 Freeway in Riverside.
Investigators became suspicious when a body shop reported that it had the damaged car in its shop since March, said Jason Kimbrough, spokesman for the Insurance Commissioner.

An investigator from the insurance company, acting on a hunch, searched for videos of the crash on the Internet and discovered the clip, Kimbrough said.

"Sure enough, the video pops up and people start putting the pieces together," Kimbrough said.

Investigators say the damage to the car is consistent with what is shown on the YouTube video.

"The YouTube video was key to building the case," Kimbrough said.

San Bernardino County prosecutors charged Jay with six counts of felony insurance fraud. His sister is charged with one count, according to court records.

Warrants were issued for their arrests last month, and both were booked on the charges March 5.

Both face prison time and fines if convicted.

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/15/p...ant/#continued
http://www.sgvtribune.com/news/ci_14666391