Vallejo woman arrested for alleged fake carjacking, insurance fraud scheme in Madera County
A Vallejo woman was arrested after allegedly faking a carjacking last week in Madera County as part of an insurance fraud scheme, authorities said.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, the Madera County Sheriff's Office said that on May 23 at 8 a.m., dispatchers received a 911 call from a woman identified as Martha Gutierrez DeRomero. The 57-year-old DeRomero said she had been carjacked at a remote intersection north of Madera near county Fire Station 3.
DeRomero told responding deputies that she was driving her white Chevrolet van packed with merchandise to sell at a local swap meet and she had pulled over to the side the road to adjust a shifting load. According to the post, she told deputies that two masked males approached and took her at knifepoint.
DeRomero said the van contained about $60,000 in merchandise, which consisted of fitness clothing, waist trainers and supplements, the post said. After the description of the suspects and the van was issued to surrounding law enforcement agencies, deputies with the Merced County Sheriff's Office found the van on Sandy Mush Road in Merced.
Following an investigation and follow-up interview with DeRomero, detectives determined that she and her boyfriend, 57-year-old Alfredo Ledezma of Madera, had staged the carjacking as part of an insurance fraud scheme, the Sheriff's Office said. The alleged stolen merchandise was later found in a storage facility in Merced.
DeRomero was booked into the Madera County Jail for felony insurance fraud, conspiracy, and filing a false police report. Ledezma also potentially faces charges of insurance fraud and conspiracy, the office said.
"What began as a serious and concerning report of a violent carjacking quickly unraveled under careful investigation," said Madera County Sheriff Tyson Pogue in a prepared statement. "Attempting to exploit emergency services for personal gain is not only illegal, it diverts resources from those who truly need help. I'm proud of our team for seeing through the deception and holding those responsible accountable."
Pogue told CBS 47 Fresno that deputies got DeRomero to admit to the scheme during interviews.
"Her story just didn't make a whole lot of sense. So, when they start following up on these leads, essentially, you know, the dots didn't connect," Pogue told CBS 47. "They determined that she was probably not being truthful and ultimately got her to confess that she was lying about the incident."
Pogue also told CBS 47 the initial report of a carjacking prompted an emergency response from all corners of the county.
"It's extremely concerning, extremely upsetting that someone would be so selfish to the safety of others to drag those resources into an incident for something that, you know, some say they're just completely making up for insurance fraud," Pogue told CBS 47.
