‘Operation Backlash’ Cracks the Whip on Fraud

The CDI Criminal Investigations Branch’s Fraud Division announced the conclusion of a 10-month operation, which resulted in a multi-agency task force serving search warrants on Whiplash Performance Center Inc. and Performance Wholesale Inc., and arresting Robert “Robbie” Lee Baker and his sister Karie Fabits. The task force was comprised of investigators and officers from CDI, the California Highway Patrol, the Fresno County HEAT Team, the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office, the National Insurance Crime Bureau and the Bureau of Automotive Repair.

Baker, 30, is the manager of both companies, and Fabits, 25, is the bookkeeper and salesperson at Whiplash Performance. Both were arrested on two counts each of insurance fraud and booked into the Fresno County Jail on $10,000 bail. If convicted, Baker and Fabits could each face up to 10 years in state prison and $100,000 in fines.

During the past year and a half, the CDI Fresno Regional Fraud Office received information from several insurance companies (Allstate, Farmers, CSAA and State Farm) regarding suspected fraudulent insurance claim activity allegedly promoted by an automotive repair and retail parts business called Whiplash Performance Center Inc., which specializes in the repair and sale of four-wheel drive vehicle equipment.

Special investigators from various insurance companies reported they looked into several auto thefts of four-wheel drive vehicles in which the recovered vehicles were stripped and/or burned. The claimants, customers and/or employees of Whiplash Performance allegedly provided sales receipts for expensive after-market parts, including high performance engines that were missing at the time of recovery. Investigators checked the validity of the receipts, which would allegedly be authenticated by employees of Whiplash Performance, including Baker and Fabits.

The insurance companies’ investigators charge that the vehicle thefts were staged, and the reported stolen parts were either never on the vehicles or removed prior to the staged theft. It is also believed that the claimants accidentally damaged some of the suspect vehicles (off-road accidents), and the thefts were staged to get the insurers to repair or replace them. The insurers paid out more than $100,000 in fraudulent claims as a result of these activities.

CDI fraud investigators used a number of confidential informants and undercover operatives during the investigation. As a result of evidence gathered in the warrant service, investigators stated they anticipate more arrests, which may include additional Whiplash Performance and Performance Wholesale employees, and customers who allegedly engaged in illegal insurance fraud scams with Baker and Fabits.