An auto repair shiop owner in North Carolina has been arrested and charged with insurance fraud, along with one of his customers.
Officials from the State of North Carolina reported that John Marvin Smith, III of Robersonville, and Fronzie Griffin, of Williamston, have both been charged with one count each of conspiracy, insurance fraud, and obtaining property by false pretense.
Criminal investigators from the North Carolina Insurance Department alleged that last July and August, Smith, who owns John’s Kustom Paint and Exhaust in Robersonville, NC, and Griffin, one of his customers, submitted a bill for auto repairs done on the latter’s car to his insurance company, Farm Bureau Insurance. The claim Griffin made was for vandalism, and as a result the insurer paid him a total of $2,318.
The pair are accused of submitting a bill for a significantly greater amount than the actual cost of repairs, in order to defraud the insurance company, and divide the extra cash between them.
Smith and Griffin were arrested and processed on Sept. 28 in Martin County; each was placed under a $50,000 unsecured bond.