AG office charges two men in separate alleged insurance fraud schemes

Feb. 13--The Idaho Attorney General's Office has charged two Lewiston men with felonies alleging they made unrelated fraudulent insurance claims on property and vehicle damages.

Michael T. Wilson, 48, is charged with two counts of insurance fraud. Jason L. Knabe, 39, is charged with one count of insurance fraud. Both men have an initial appearance scheduled for Wednesday.

Wilson was involved in a car crash in June 2015, and his 2007 Jeep was impounded, after he was arrested for DUI by Idaho State Police. Just two days after the Jeep was impounded Wilson allegedly added it to an insurance policy and made a damages claim about a week later, according to court records.

Wilson claimed he hit a deer with his Jeep and rolled the vehicle into a ditch. He told an insurance agent he did not inform police of the fictitious accident but that a friend picked him up and could vouch for the alleged crash. The Attorney General's Office was able to acquire text messages Wilson sent to a woman in which he allegedly wrote: "I have no witness for (the) accident so I need you to tell them you came and picked me up. ... and that's all you know," according to court records.

The woman called the insurance agent and told them she picked up Wilson on June 9, 2015, after he hit a deer. The woman has not been charged with anything related to this incident.

Wilson again met with an insurance agent and afterward texted the woman saying: "I'm only getting ($13,000) and going to cancel, it doesn't feel right and a felony for ($13,000) is not worth it."

He withdrew the claim the next day.

Knabe allegedly tried to claim water damage to his 50-inch TV and couch, receiving $1,400.15 from Farmers Insurance in April 2015, according to court records. Knabe reported a sink supply line broke and flooded his home on the 600 block of Warner Avenue, and he reportedly paid $800 for cleaning and plumbing, in addition to replacing property.

Knabe allegedly tried to enter another insurance claim on the same items that summer, telling an insurance agent the couch was cleaned but not replaced and the TV was fixed but not replaced before recanting and saying he did, in fact, replace the TV. Knabe faxed over a receipt for a TV he bought but it did not match the brand from the original insurance claim. The invoice for the replacement TV also had the date issued crossed out to reflect it was bought after the flooding, despite the original purchase date being a year prior to the flooding.

Knabe later told an insurance investigator he did not pay for plumbing or clean up. An investigator from the Attorney General's Office interviewed Knabe and he allegedly told them he doubled up on insurance claims "to try and gain money," according to court records.

Insurance fraud is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

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Holm may be contacted at [email protected] or at (208) 848-2275. Follow him on Twitter @TomHolm4.

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