Jun 27, 2008

Redwood City auto shop owners arrested

Each held on $2 million bail, charged with damaging vehicles

By Banks Albach / Daily News Staff Writer

The owner and general manager of Group Specialist Auto Repair Shop in Redwood City have been arrested for faking damage to customers' BMW and Mercedes vehicles - in many cases using dead mice - and then charging for repair work they didn't do, county prosecutors said Thursday.

After a two-year investigation by the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office, Bita Imani, the owner of Group Specialists, and Mehran Baranriz, the general manager, were arrested by sheriff's deputies Wednesday on 56 counts of filing false insurance claims and five counts of grand theft.

They are each being held on $2 million bail and are scheduled for a possible arraignment Monday. If convicted of the charges, they each could face 60 years in jail.

Deputy District Attorney Sharon Henry of the Insurance and Workers Compensation Fraud Unit said that between January 2003 and March 2007, the pair allegedly filed 236 insurance claims worth $1.2 million with 25 companies involving 128 customers.

Based on several interviews with customers and insurance companies, and a search of the shop last August, investigators determined the two men stuffed dead mice into engine compartments, filed rodent damage claims to the insurance companies and never replaced the parts. They also allegedly made false claims over water damage. Several vehicles were reinspected by outside mechanics as part of the probe.

The investigation grew out of a complaint filed by State Farm Insurance's audit department, which revealed that Group Specialists average rodent damage claims were $10,000, five times higher than the state average.

"These were pretty sophisticated fraudulent schemes that they were using," Henry said.

A manager at the shop, located at 421 Hurlingame Ave., said he was "completely surprised" and initially didn't think the arrests had anything to do with the business. He preferred not to be named.

In addition to fraud and grand theft charges, Imani is facing four counts of tax fraud and Baranriz is being charged with two counts of perjury.

Anyone with concerns about repair work charged by Group Specialists can call the San Mateo County Insurance Fraud Unit at 650-363-4936.



E-mail Banks Albach at balbach@dailynewsgroup.com.