Accident Scam Sends Family of 4 to Jail

A mother, father, daughter and son-in-law were sentenced Wednesday to 6 months in County Jail for an insurance fraud scheme in which they staged a phony car accident and claimed to have been injured.

Mari Zeitounian, 53, Gevork Zeitounian, 64, their daughter Marishak Kechkarian, 32, and son-in-law Sahak Kechkarian, 39, all of Burbank, were convicted Nov. 2 by a San Fernando Superior Court jury of grand theft, conspiracy and presenting and preparing fraudulent claims.

San Fernando Superior Court Judge James M. Coleman ordered the family to reimburse to Farmers Insurance Group the $2,378 it paid for car repair.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Sue Lasicka said that about 10 p.m. on Sept. 28, 1986, the family parked a 1979 Pontiac LeMans at Peoria Street and Glenoaks Boulevard, an industrial section of North Hollywood. Also parked at the curb, according to the testimony of a witness watching from a nearby building, was a 1977 Cadillac with at least one person inside.

The witness said he saw about five people gather near the cars. Sahak Kechkarian stepped away from the group and drove the Pontiac into the middle of the intersection. The witness said he heard someone yell, “OK, ram it!”

Moments later, according to testimony, the Cadillac broadsided the Pontiac, and the driver of the Cadillac fled on foot. The four family members got into the Pontiac and remained seated inside the car until police arrived, Lasicka said.

Marishak Kechkarian claimed that she was driving her family through the intersection at about 35 m.p.h. when the car was struck by a Cadillac. The four, who emigrated from Soviet Armenia in 1977, filed insurance claims alleging neck, back, arm and leg injuries, Lasicka said. No injury claims were paid.

About 2 months later, insurance investigators concluded that the case was a fraud and reported it to authorities.

An accident reconstruction expert testified during the 2-week trial that after analyzing damage to the Pontiac, he concluded the car could not have been moving when it was struck by the Cadillac.

“It was a pretty clear-cut case,” Lasicka said.

Police and prosecutors believe that the four were part of a larger ring that stages auto accidents and collects on false insurance claims.

The Cadillac was a stolen car, Lasicka said, and the driver has not been identified.