Two Concord couples have been charged in an insurance fraud scheme that authorities say involved $700,000 in money laundering activity and income tax fraud.

Investigators arrested Elisa Guillermo, 38; Lorenzo Guillermo Jr., 36; Juliet Ibanez Armstrong, 41; and Arthur Armstrong Jr., 33, on suspicion of conspiracy, insurance fraud and income tax fraud, said Mark MacNamara of the San Francisco District Attorney's Office.

Elisa Guillermo and Arthur Armstrong are also charged with money laundering.

Elisa Guillermmo was charged with entering a computer network to alter data, MacNamara said.

Authorities say Elisa guillermo was the mastermind behind the fraud. Elisa Guillermo is a former assistant claims manager at Fremont Compensation Insurance Group, which has a San Francisco office.

BAuthorities say she generated payment checks from the Fremont group to a bogus physicaltherapy clinic she had created. She also created a phone medical review service called A. Armstrong Billing Center.

Court records show she also used her work computer to access the insurance group's network to authorize some of the payments.

Most of the checks were deposited into checking accounts opened Juliet Armstrong, authorities say.

Between October 1999 and August 2001, nearly 600 payments were made, totaling $700,000.

The arrests ended an 1 month investigation.

Police ask anyone with information on the two phony organizations to call Senior District Attorney Investigator Richard Hong at 415-551-9572.

 

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