[MadDog]

Thought this news article was funny:


Two accused of bilking luxury car owners and insurers by stuffing dead mice into engine components
By Michael Manekin
Bay Area News Group
Article Launched: 07/09/2008 06:49:33 AM PDT


The husband-and-wife managers of a Redwood City auto repair shop that allegedly swindled customers by faking damage to luxury cars and charging for fake repairs pleaded not guilty Tuesday to multiple felony counts of fraud and grand theft.
Mehran Baranriz, 45, and Bita Imani, 35, of Group Specialist in Redwood City, stand accused of stuffing dead mice into the engine components of their customers' BMW and Mercedes vehicles.The couple would file false rodent damage claims to insurance companies and pretend to replace parts, according to prosecutors.

Using the rodent scheme and other fraudulent techniques, the couple allegedly filed $1.2 million worth of false insurance claims between January 2003 and March 2007, prosecutors said. The victims of the alleged scams were 25 insurance companies and 128 customers, prosecutors said.

Baranriz, the shop's general manager, and his wife Imani, the owner of the business, were arrested June 25 following a two-year investigation by the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office.

The couple, who live in San Carlos, were each held on $2 million bail. But Imani's bail was later reduced to $750,000, and she was released from custody after posting a bond on Monday.

Her husband's bail was reduced Tuesday to $1.25 million, but he remains in custody, prosecutors said.

They each face 56 felony counts of filing false insurance claims and five felony counts of grand theft. Imani, who is also facing four counts of tax fraud, and Baranriz, who is charged with two counts of perjury, face up to 60 years in jail.
The criminal investigation of their auto repair shop grew out of a complaint filed by State Farm Insurance's audit department, which revealed that Group Specialists average rodent damage claims were five times higher than the state average.

A manager at the shop at 421 Hurlingame Ave., previously said he was "completely surprised" by the arrests. He declined to give his name.

Imani is expected to return to court July 11 for a bail review hearing and to set a preliminary hearing date. A hearing to review her husband's bail and to set his preliminary hearing was scheduled for July 16.