Fraud of the Week: Too Little, Too Late

Ronald Velasquez, of Mentone, Calif., discovered that when it comes to insurance claims, it's not always better late than never.

At approximately 3:15p.m. on June 8, 2008, Velasquez rear-ended another vehicle. A short 41 minutes later, Velasquez purchased car insurance online.

Unfortunately, he hadn't bought insurance as a precaution for future accidents. It was his prior mistake of driving uninsured that he was trying to erase. A few days after the accident actually occurred, Velasquez filed a claim stating that he was involved in a traffic collision that occurred June 11.

The claim, which would have cost the insurance company $10,000, was denied after it was found that Velasquez had purchased his policy after the real collision. The auto insurance policy was just too little, too late, and didn't keep Velasquez covered in court. He was booked at the Orange County Jail for filing a fraudulent auto insurance claim, with bail set at $30,000.