Olympia man gets 30 days in jail for bad claim

An Olympia man who filed a fraudulent insurance claim with State Farm was recently sentenced to 30 days in jail, one year of probation, restitution to State Farm in an amount that will be determined, and court fees.

In November 2012, Allen C. Deen, 23, filed a $3,795 claim with State Farm for damage to his 2008 Ducati motorcycle. In the claim, he said the damage occurred when he was pushing it across grass, slipped and fell with the motorcycle. State Farm found records that it had paid a $6,577 claim on the same motorcycle for the same damage in May 2012 to another customer, who previously owned the motorcycle. The previous owner had sold the damaged motorcycle to Deen “as is” in June 2012. Deen later withdrew the claim and received no money from State Farm.

Deen pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree theft, a felony, and filing a false claim, a misdemeanor, in Thurston County Superior Court.

State Farm referred the case to the Insurance Commissioner’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU), which investigates criminal insurance fraud in Washington state. Read more about SIU’s work.