Erwin Raul Mejia, 42, of Van Nuys, was sentenced to 10 years in state prison following his conviction on 10 felony counts of insurance fraud for his role in a staged auto collision ring that bilked insurers out of more than $700,000. Mejia was also ordered to pay $699,784 in restitution to six auto insurers, including over $420,000 to Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.

Mejia, who was previously convicted of insurance fraud in 2005, pleaded guilty to 10 felony counts of insurance fraud in two separate cases, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

Erwin Mejia played an integral role in a staged auto collision ring involving hundreds of suspects. Since October 2017, 25 additional arrests were made in connection with this organized ring, which in total has resulted in $1.7 million in losses to insurers.

Nine of those defendants have pleaded guilty to insurance fraud and gotten sentences of up to two years in county jail along with being ordered to pay a combined restitution of hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

The other defendants – who are awaiting a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to require them to stand trial – include Melvin Galang Dungca, 47, whom prosecutors allege was the so-called “capper” who recruited businesses and individuals to take part in the alleged ring; and Edgar Omar Estrada Romero, a 39-year-old auto body shop owner charged with 35 felony counts of insurance fraud, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

The remaining defendants’ next court date is a preliminary hearing setting Aug. 10 in Department 103 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center.

Mejia worked as a Material Damage Appraiser for Nationwide where he inspected damaged vehicles, prepared repair estimates, and issued checks to claimants for their damaged cars.

An investigation by the California Department of Insurance, which led to Mejia’s arrest in October 2017, revealed Mejia and additional suspects orchestrated an elaborate scheme to defraud insurers with paper collisions that never occurred or by intentionally damaging vehicles to submit fraudulent claims.

Mejia often inflated the damages to the cars in his estimates and even wrote estimates for cars that were not actually damaged. He and a capper recruited people to insure vehicles and make fraudulent claims resulting in 70 fraudulent claims.

After leaving Nationwide, Mejia worked as a claims adjuster at MetLife Insurance in Nevada where he continued his scheme adjusting known fraudulent claims. Mejia issued settlement checks to the claimants that were redirected to a friend in Los Angeles who was cashing the checks.

After leaving MetLife, Mejia went to Fred Loya Insurance and then on to Kemper Insurance. Additional victim insurers include State Farm, Wawanesa, and Mercury who were affected by the fraudulent claims generally as the second party involved, for example the claimant party.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office prosecuted this case. The same office convicted Mejia on a prior insurance fraud charge in January 2005.