BAKERSFIELD— On October 19, 2020, the California Department of Insurance (CDI) announced that Leilani King, 40, was charged with 127 felony counts of insurance fraud and grand theft after allegedly submitting more than 60 fraudulent claims to her insurance company for procedures that were never performed in a scheme to receive undeserved insurance payouts.

An investigation by CDI revealed that between January 2015 and March 2019, King submitted 61 fraudulent insurance claims to Symetra Insurance for medical and dental procedures and services for herself and her dependents. The claims stated the procedures were performed at multiple provider clinics, however; the provider clinics confirmed that the procedures were never performed. King’s alleged fraud led to a $32,221 payout from Symetra Insurance that King was not entitled to receive.

King purchased a policy with Symetra Insurance through her employer. The policy included multiple coverages for King and her four children, including: life insurance, accidental death and/or dismemberment, dependent life insurance, ambulance transportation, surgical anesthesia, substance abuse facilities, urgent care, outpatient hospital, surgical procedures, dental and vision care benefits, among others.

The fraudulent claims were for dental procedures including tooth extractions, an appendectomy, emergency room visits, and sports injuries, King is accused of providing falsified or fabricated documentation. In some cases, King allegedly submitted the same invoices multiple times for separate claims.

King self-surrendered on October 16, 2020. Bail was set at $125,000. She is scheduled to be arraigned on November 16, 2020. The Kern County District Attorney’s Office is prosecuting this case.

“Insurance fraud is not a victimless crime,” said California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA) President Alan Barcelona.  “We all pay higher premiums because of it.  There are so many more people committing various types of insurance fraud in this state than there are CDI investigators and detectives.  I am grateful for the work of the law enforcement and consumer protection professionals at CDI who investigate insurance fraud.”