Allentown man’s hit-run insurance claims were fraud, detectives say [The Morning Call, Allentown, Pa.]

June 20--An Allentown man filed a $4,300 insurance claim over a hit-and-run car accident his wife already had collected on and, a month later, he double-billed for a second hit-and-run, investigators said.

Fouad Baladi, 38, of 806 N. Kearny St. was arraigned Tuesday by District Judge Michael Faulkner on charges of insurance fraud and theft. He was released on $25,000 bail.

The Lehigh County Insurance Fraud Task Force alleges that Baladi received $4,307 from Geico for sport utility vehicle damage that another insurer previously paid for.

Safe Auto Insurance Co. paid Baladi's wife, Andrea, $4,139 after she filed a claim Aug. 28, 2011, for the damage to the SUV, county detectives said in the arrest affidavit.

Baladi then bought Geico Insurance on Jan. 10 and filed a Jan. 17 claim, the affidavit says.

Baladi bought two more insurance policies for the SUV in February, one from Victoria Insurance and the other from Infinity Insurance of Upper Macungie Township, detectives said.

On Feb. 12, four days after buying the Victoria policy, he claimed the SUV was damaged in a Bethlehem hit-and-run, detectives said. Victoria paid him $8,031, the affidavit says.

On Feb. 25, Baladi asked Infinity Insurance to pay for hit-and-run damage that he claimed happened to the SUV on the shoulder of the Interstate 78 on-ramp to Route 33, according to the affidavit. Investigators said this was fraud.

County detectives began looking at Baladi's accident reports after he made the Infinity claim, the affidavit says.

By looking at a photo record of the SUV damage, the detectives found Baladi was asking Infinity to pay for the same damage, with small additions, that Victoria paid him for, the affidavit says.

Infinity estimated repairs would cost $2,556, but Infinity did not pay Baladi, detectives said.

Detective Christie Correa prepared the complaint against Baladi.

[email protected]

610-820-6508

___

(c)2012 The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.)

Visit The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.) at www.mcall.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services