CSLEA President Alan Barcelona
“Insurance fraud is a crime against all of us who pay for auto insurance. It costs all of us money in higher premiums. We appreciate the CHP, CDI and the Kern County District Attorney’s Office for helping to identify, investigate and prosecute those who commit insurance fraud.”
BAKERSFIELD— On December 19, 2024, Jacob McNabb, 33, of Bakersfield, was sentenced following a jury’s guilty verdict on four felony counts including insurance fraud. A California Department of Insurance (CDI) investigation found he was involved in dozens of auto collisions where he would file false claims for undeserved insurance payouts. McNabb was also sentenced for an additional 11 counts of filing false documents with the court, perjury and identity theft for a scheme involving fraud upon the Kern County Superior Court that the Kern County District Attorney’s Office investigated.
McNabb was sentenced to 16 years and four months in prison. The Kern County District Attorney’s Office prosecuted this case.
The Department of Insurance began its investigation into McNabb’s auto insurance fraud after the California Highway Patrol noticed an unusually high number of collisions involving McNabb. CDI’s investigation found McNabb was involved in approximately 40 auto collisions over a six-year period. During the investigation detectives focused on four specific traffic collisions in which McNabb submitted insurance claims, but failed to disclose the vehicle had pre-existing damage.
According to CDI, McNabb’s scheme would start with a collision, then he would file an insurance claim, cash out his auto insurance benefits, and rather than having his vehicle repaired, he would pocket the money from the insurance payout. He then was involved in a subsequent collision, in which the same area of his vehicle was impacted as the prior collision, and would file another claim, but fail to report the damage as preexisting in order to get a larger insurance payout. He repeated this scheme multiple times and targeted innocent drivers who he would later sue in small claims court as part of his second scheme.
