Shattered Dreams for 3 Arizona Men

An investigation by the Arizona Department of Insurance (DOI) Fraud Unit led to no-contest pleas last month in Maricopa County Superior Court by three owners of Phoenix, Ariz.-based Advantage Auto Glass LLC in connection with indictments charging them with defrauding 33 insurance companies out of $134,061.

The no-contest pleas were entered by Advantage Auto Glass owner Charles Frank Fuller of Scottsdale, and Brian Tod Bailey and Paul Lialios, both of Tucson. As president, Fuller entered a no-contest plea on behalf of the company. According to court documents, the alleged scam took place from April 14, 1999, to Aug. 24, 1999, and involved filing claims for work on vehicles that was either never
completed or never started.

Filing a fraudulent insurance claim is a Class 5 felony, punishable by a maximum of 2.5 years in prison and a fine of $150,000; while fraudulent schemes is a Class 2 felony, punishable by a maximum of 10 years in prison and a fine of $1 million.

If the plea agreement is accepted by the court, the three defendants will be sentenced to supervised probation and ordered to pay the insurers up to $250,000. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 1.