Stockton Man Submits False Claim

Purn Howard, 37, of Stockton, Calif., surrendered to authorities in San Joaquin County on multiple counts of fraud, according to an investigation by the CDI’s Criminal Investigations Branch’s Fraud Division.

Howard allegedly reported his vehicle stolen on Dec. 12, 2001 and claimed that there was an expensive keyboard and amplifier inside the vehicle. State Farm Insurance Company received an Affidavit of Theft and a request for reimbursement of the musical equipment on Dec. 24, 2001, accompanied by a receipt submitted by Howard from Skip’s Music in Sacramento in the amount of $4,105.21 for the purchase of a keyboard and an amplifier.

The investigation revealed the receipt submitted by Howard for the musical equipment was fake—it was further determined that the musical equipment had never been purchased.