NEW CASTLE Couple faces charges of insurance fraud

The couple contends the truck was repaired in another state.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- A Pulaski Township couple faces charges in a car insurance fraud, the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office said.
Lee Swift, 52, and Donna Swift, 66, both of Beechwood Boulevard, were arrested earlier this week by Attorney General Mike Fisher's insurance fraud section.
Lee Swift is charged with two counts of insurance fraud, criminal attempt and forgery. His wife is charged with one count of insurance fraud.
The Swifts were released without monetary bond and are scheduled to appear Monday before District Justice James Reed for preliminary hearings.
Authorities said the couple reported damage to a vehicle and sought insurance payments for it, but it was later determined that the damage came from a previous accident that the insurer had already paid for a year earlier.
Affidavits filed to support the charges say the Swifts first reported to insurance carrier Geico that their 1999 Chevrolet S-10 truck was damaged Nov. 5, 2001.
The insurance carrier eventually issued the couple a check for $1,075.62 for repairs, and that check was later cashed.
Court papers said the Swifts reported a second accident with the same vehicle to Geico on May 7, 2002. They told an insurance adjuster that the damage from the previous accident had been repaired by an auto body shop in Oklahoma.
Repairman's conclusion
Another auto body repairman who inspected the truck after the Swifts reported the first and second accidents told officials that it appeared to be the same damage, court papers say.
The repairman told officials that there was rust on the damaged part of the hood and the vehicle identification number on the underside of the hood was identical. Had the work been done, a new hood would have been put on the car, authorities said.
Investigators said the Oklahoma body shop where the Swifts claim the original repair work was done denied working on the vehicle, as did a Lawrence County auto body shop that gave the original estimate that the insurance payout was based on.
Court papers also showed that Lee Swift could not have driven the truck to Oklahoma and back to Lawrence County because there were not enough miles logged on the odometer.
cioffi@vindy.com