A California couple has been charged with insurance fraud for their role in an alleged $4 million arson scam.
Tyler Chen, 46, and his wife, Kim, 45, have been charged with multiple felony counts of fraud and arson for their role in allegedly setting a series of fires in order to bilk insurance companies out of $4 million. Four other co-conspirators were also arrested and charged in the scheme, according to the California Department of Insurance (DOI).
The DOI first became involved in January of 2014, when it received a tip through its consumer hotline that a string of fires between December 2011 and September 2013 were connected. The fires had burned homes, businesses and warehouses. The tipster who called in with the connection gave the exact address where the next fire would occur, according to the DOI. The department launched a joint investigation with the San Jose Fire Department and the district attorney’s offices for Santa Clara and San Joaquin counties. That investigation revealed that two fires had occurred at a business owned by the Chens. Two of their homes had also burned.
The residential fires were all reported as having started when chicken was left unattended on the stove.
“The Chens allegedly orchestrated the entire situation to make it appear as though the fire was the result of a careless cooking incident and then planted many of the same smoke damaged items, which they had already claimed from other alleged fires in homes, warehouses and businesses,” the DOI said in a news release.
Tyler Chen, along with business associate Ha Nguyen, also rented a number of warehouses for an import-export business they owned. Investigators alleged that Tyler Chen and Nguyen used smoke-damaged items to claim fire damage in their warehouses.
The Chens also allegedly recruited a family member, a co-worker and another local business owner to participate in the scheme.
