One Man’s Da Ys in the sun could be numbered after he allegedly com- mitted insurance fraud to collect
thousands in undeserved Workers’ Com-
pensation benefits.
On March 26, authorities arrested
Julio santiago, 53, of rowland Heights,
Calif., charging him with grand theft and
multiple felony counts, including making
false statements and “presenting false
or fraudulent written material to obtain
compensation.”
in May 2009 conducted an
investigation. The company’s
probe revealed that santiago
had been double-dipping—
collecting Workers’ Comp
benefits while working as a
security guard for a separate
employer.
santiago earned $29,750
in income from the
second employer while
still knowingly collecting
Workers’ Comp benefits for
the claimed work-related
injury.
Investigators discovered
that between June 13, 2009
to Feb. 17, 2010, santiago
received Temporary Total
Disability benefits in the
amount of $13,606.86
from Intercare.
Following his arrest,
santiago was booked at
the Los angeles County
Jail, where he remains
under the watch of real
guards while awaiting
trial. Bail has been set at
$120,000. NU
Contents Claims Solved: The Case of the Persian Rug
BY TOM KIRKPATRICK
An aDJus Ter Was presented with a water-damage claim involving what was described as an antique 10-by-
13-foot Heriz rug valued at $25,000. The
water damage caused the colors to run,
rendering the Persian rug a total loss, according to the insured’s claim.
The owner provided the adjuster with
the provenance of having inherited this
early-20th-century rug from a family
member. The owner also provided
documentation of having spent several
thousand dollars restoring the rug to what
was described as “pristine” condition.
Initial online research supported the
$25,000 claim. nonetheless, the adjuster had
some reservations about whether or not the
rug was a total loss and called in a contents-claims specialist to consult on the case.
THE THREADBARE TIP-OFF
The first clue for the specialist that the
value of the rug was drastically inflated
was the determination that the prior
restoration involved “reweaving and
recoloring.” reweaving meant the rug
had structural deficiencies that had to
be addressed. The recoloring was a huge
tip-off to the contents expert as to the less-
than-pristine condition of the rug.
Persian rugs are handmade. The
foundations are made of warp threads
which run the full length of the rug, and the
fringes are actually the exposed ends of these
foundation threads. The woven threads are
the foundation threads that run the width
of the rug.
When a rug is said to be “threadbare,”
it means wear and tear has worn down the
colored wool pile, starting to expose the
white foundation threads. some people
paint the area with dyes, coloring the white
foundation threads to match the pile colors
in an attempt to mask the rug’s extremely
worn condition. The contents specialists in
this case recognized that the rug in question
had lost its pristine condition long ago.
THE RESULT
Contents experts secured images that
confirmed the wear-and-tear, and that
painting had been used to improve the
appearance but not the actual condition
of the rug. The images also revealed
less-than-expert-quality reweaving and
evidence that reinforcing had been
glued to the back of the rug to stabilize
a failing foundation. as a result, they
determined that pre-existing conditions
dictated that $7,500 would be the proper
valuation for this rug rather than the total
loss of $25,000 claimed.
experts also determined that the rug was
not a total loss. since the rug had been
painted once already, simply bleaching the
area with runs and recoloring would restore
it to its pre-loss condition. In the end, $2,000
covered restoration costs with no diminution
of value to the insured’s Persian rug. NU
PropertyCasualty360.com
April 16, 2012 | National Underwriter Property & Casualty | 13
