Credit: Bucks County District Attorney’s Office
The Newtown Township owner of a collision center has been sentenced to probation and ordered to pay a large restitution after being found guilty of insurance fraud.
On Monday at the Bucks County Justice Center in Doylestown Borough, John Paul Reis, 56, owner of Chalfont Collision Center in Chalfont Borough, received his sentence for defrauding five insurance companies through the submission of almost 300 false insurance claims over an eight-year period.
Reis, a resident of Newtown Township, pleaded guilty in March to insurance fraud, deceptive business practices, forgery, and theft by deception.
Court of Common Pleas Judge Charissa Liller presided over the case and imposed 84 months of restrictive probation on Reis. The initial four months will be served under home confinement with electronic monitoring.
Additionally, Reis was ordered to pay restitution totaling $435,246.69 to insurance companies Erie Insurance, Nationwide Insurance, CSAA Insurance Group, Liberty Mutual Insurance, and NJM Insurance.
In March, Reis entered an open guilty plea to charges of insurance fraud, deceptive business practices, forgery and theft by deception, all third-degree felonies, according to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office.
Reis’ charges last August followed a four-year investigation conducted by the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office Insurance Fraud Unit.
The investigation began in September 2018 after Erie Insurance’s Special Investigations Unit reported suspicious activities at Chalfont Collision Center on Park Avenue. The report alleged that the collision center was fabricating or enhancing damage to customers’ vehicles to inflate insurance estimates, authorities said.
Investigators alleged that Reis would apply a compound mixture to the bodies of multiple vehicles and occasionally use a hammer to create the appearance of collision damage.
The compound and hammer damage allowed him to submit inflated insurance claims to companies, enabling him to collect larger payouts from insurance companies, authorities said.
Chalfont Collision Center had a status as a direct repair center for various insurance providers, including Erie Insurance. The status allowed them to estimate repair costs, carry out necessary repairs, and submit billing documents for payment and expediting the repair process for customers, authorities said.
The collision center’s credentials were suspended due to the investigation, authorities said.
The lengthy investigation was led by the Bucks County Detectives, with assistance from the Central Bucks Regional Police Department, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, and investigators from Erie Insurance, Nationwide Insurance, CSAA Insurance Group, Liberty Mutual Insurance, and NJM Insurance.
