Simi Fugitives Accused of Insurance Fraud, Forgery Surrender in L.A.

A Simi Valley couple who fled to Colorado when state authorities charged them with collecting $250,000 for 165 false insurance claims surrendered Thursday in Los Angeles Municipal Court.

Rhonda Louise Simpson, 35, a former office manager for a Canoga Park insurance agent, and her husband, Robert Leo Simpson, 39, surrendered to Department of Insurance officials after flying from Denver on Wednesday night, authorities said.

Insurance fraud investigators charged that the Simpsons collected $251,244 by filing false claims for wind and rain damage to their home. The claims were filed between 1986 and 1988 when Rhonda Simpson worked for a State Farm insurance agent, said investigator Ronald Warthen.

Rhonda Simpson forged her employer’s signature on the claims, most of which were made payable to her husband, and deposited the money in the couple’s joint account, Warthen said.

When the scheme was discovered during a State Farm audit in late 1988, Rhonda Simpson admitted her guilt and offered to make restitution to the company, Warthen said. But, he said, shortly afterward, the couple and their two young children moved from their Simi Valley home without leaving a forwarding address.

Last month, after insurance investigators received an anonymous tip that the couple was living in Aurora, a suburb of Denver, they were arrested there by local police. They posted bail, waived extradition and returned voluntarily to California.

Rhonda Simpson pleaded not guilty to 20 counts of forgery and 20 counts of insurance fraud, and Robert Simpson pleaded not guilty to 20 counts of receiving stolen property. Each pleaded not guilty to one count of grand theft, Warthen said. Her bail was set at $150,000 and his at $100,000, Warthen said.

In another insurance fraud case, a Tujunga store owner and a Studio City tax preparer were arrested on suspicion of stealing $73,000 by staging 31 automobile accidents in the Tujunga area between May, 1986, and April, 1988.

Tanleen Mashfu, 24, a self-employed tax preparer, was arrested at his home Wednesday night on suspicion of three counts of insurance fraud, Warthen said.

His cousin, Ullah Sakhawat, 39, who was charged with four counts of insurance fraud, three counts of grand theft and two counts of perjury, surrendered to authorities last month.

Warthen said that the same two vehicles were involved in many of the crashes, and that Mashfu and Sakhawat were named either as insureds or claimants in 29 of the incidents reported, Warthen said.

Mashfu was being held in County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail. Sakhawat was released on his own recognizance after he surrendered.