A Willis man accused of hiding his vintage Harley Davidson motorcycle while claiming it was stolen could face up to two years in jail if he’s convicted of insurance fraud.
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David Brittain, 41, was set to appear Tuesday before Judge Vanessa Velasquez of the 183rd state District Court in Harris County, charged with state jail felony insurance fraud. The state jail felony charge stems from an investigation by the Harris County Fire Marshal’s Office after Brittain’s insurance company, Geico, paid $7,552 to Brittain after he allegedly filed a claim that his 1976 Harley was stolen 10 days after he bought a policy on it in July 2008.
Lt. Investigator Chad Shaw of the HCFMO was contacted in June of this year by the National Insurance Crime Bureau and given documentation showing Brittain purchased the policy on July 15, 2008 and then filed the claim on July 25, 2008, the criminal complaint against Brittain states.
But Brittain’s girlfriend at the time told an NCIB agent a year after the claim was paid that the motorcycle was being stored at her mother’s home.
When the two began dating in July 2008, “ … he had told her about claiming his motorcycle stolen and showed her the motorcycle which was being stored in a covered trailer” in Pasadena, the complaint states.
Brittain then allegedly moved the Harley to his girlfriend’s house and then to her mother’s garage, according to the complaint.
Brittain and his girfriend then began having problems in their relationship, and in 2009, she told him that if he didn’t leave her alone, she would report him for fraud.
“He began to panic and moved the motorcycle out of the garage. Prior to him picking up the motorcycle (the girlfriend’s) mother took photographs of the motorcycle,” the complaint states.
Brittain also allegedly had taken the motorcycle in a trailer to a parking lot to show a friend.
“While they were looking at the motorcycle Defendant Brittain told them he had been paid $10,000 for an insurance claim … and that he could not ride the motorcycle until he got another frame so that if he got pulled over the Vehicle Identification Number would not show stolen,” the complaint states.
“It’s definitely an ongoing investigation,” said Houston attorney Marcus Adrogue, who is representing Brittain.
Insurance fraud costs the U.S. $102 billion a year, Shaw said.
“Harris County is one of the leading areas in the nation,” he said. “Texas is in the top five (states) for insurance fraud.”
Officers with the Montgomery County Auto Theft Task Force investigate “very few” insurance fraud cases, said Lt. David Moore, who heads the task force.
“We get mainly title fraud,” he said. “Every once in a while we get insurance fraud.”
The National Insurance Crime Bureau states that questionable property claims – those referred for review and investigation – rose 7 percent in the third quarter of 2011, according to www.ncib.org. The categories showing the largest increases for the quarter include workers’ compensation and casaulty claims, while property claims decreased slightly.
Motorcycle thefts have dropped 24 percent since 2007, according to the NCIB.
