Release Date: January 16, 2008

Contact:

Kevin Drescher, Senior Deputy District Attorney

(805) 662-1726  

District Attorney Gregory D. Totten announced today that Norma Fonseca (DOB 12/16/63) and Salvador Rosas Castillo (DOB 6/17/72), both of Oxnard , have been charged with felony auto insurance fraud.

According to detectives from the Ventura County Auto Theft Task Force, on September 15, 2007, Fonseca reported to police that her 2002 Honda Accord was stolen from the front of her residence. Later that same day, she filed a claim for her "stolen vehicle" with her insurance company, Infinity Insurance.

On December 17, 2007, Oxnard police officers responded to an unrelated call at GT Auto Electric repair shop in Oxnard . Castillo is the owner of GT Auto Electric. While at the location, officers discovered Fonseca's "stolen vehicle" inside Castillo's repair shop. Additional investigation revealed Fonseca conspired with Castillo to hide her vehicle in his shop so that she could report her car as "stolen" and collect insurance money.

Both defendants are scheduled for arraignment on January 22, 2008, at 9:00 p.m. in courtroom 12 of the Ventura County Superior Court. They each face a maximum penalty of five years in state prison and up to $50,000 in fines.

Auto insurance fraud is not a victimless crime. It affects every law abiding insured driver in California . Automobile insurance fraud costs the United States insurance industry $2 billion annually and each consumer about $200 to $300 annually for each vehicle insured in California . The District Attorney's Office is committed to vigorous prosecution of all those who choose to victimize the public in this manner.