Mass. AG Charges Husband, Wife with False Insurance Report

A husband and wife and her sister have been arraigned on charges alleging that they attempted to collect $24,000 in insurance proceeds by falsely reporting to their insurance company that their car, which they claimed was fully loaded with high end electronics gear, had been stolen, Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly announced.

Edgar Monteiro, 33, of Hull, and his wife, Carey James Monteiro, 29, of Pompano Beach, Fla., and her sister, Amanda James, also of Hull, were arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court. The three were arraigned on one count each of motor vehicle insurance fraud, attempted larceny and filing a false police report. Edgar Monteiro was held on $5,000 cash bail.

Carey Monteiro was released on an electronic monitoring bracelet after she posted $1,000 cash bail. Amanda James was released on personal recognizance. They are next scheduled to appear in court December 19 for pre-trial conference.

On October 26, the three were indicted by a Suffolk County grand jury on charges they allegedly schemed to falsely report that a car and its expensive contents were stolen.

On May 29, Amanda James reported to Boston Police that two days prior, her car, a 2000 white Audi sedan, had been stolen from its parking space on Newbury Street in Boston. Amanda James was allegedly reporting the car to be stolen in an effort to fraudulently file an insurance claim. One day after the Audi was allegedly stolen, Hull Police informed Amanda James that the car had been located in Brockton.

Amanda James submitted a claim to Metropolitan Life Insurance for more than $24,000. The claim included $433 for a rental car and $23,590 for various stereo and electronic equipment James alleged was stripped from the vehicle.

The Attorney General’s officie said its investigation revealed that the car was never stolen. The three defendants allegedly had the electronics removed from the vehicle prior to filing a stolen car report.

The investigation further uncovered that Edgar Monteiro and his wife Carey schemed to have the vehicle loaded with electronics, and then stripped of its contents and parked on a side street in Brockton. Amanda James then allegedly agreed to file the police report and then sign and submit an insurance claim. Amanda James also allegedly gave a recorded statement to a Metropolitan Life Insurance investigator.

Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Source: Mass. Attorney General