A Williams Lake man has been ordered to pay more than $20,000 after he was busted bragging on Facebook about his bogus insurance claim.
Corbin Joseph posted on the site that he had rolled his truck into a ditch after drinking at a New Year's Eve party, then made off with a big insurance payout.
Unfortunately for him, the ill-considered boasting caught the attention of ICBC's special investigation unit.
The insurance company says Joseph was under a driving prohibition when he totalled his 2007 Ford Ranger near Springhouse, so he convinced his friend to say she had been driving.
The three other people in the car did not suffer serious injuries.
Investigators interviewed Joseph's friends, who eventually admitted he had driven to and from the party – and crashed more than once along the way.
When the fraudster caught wind of the investigation, ICBC says he tried to bribe the woman who had lied for him through texts and Facebook messages, offering to pay her off and provide legal assistance if she stood by the story.
The woman refused and provided copies of the messages to the investigators instead.
Joseph was fined $2,000 and ordered to pay more than $18,000 in restitution after pleading guilty to fraud and obstruction of justice. The Williams Lake Provincial Court judge also handed him a three-month conditional sentence and six months' probation.
"Insurance fraud is a serious crime that steals hard-earned money from the overwhelming majority of our honest customers," said ICBC investigation manager Steve Tripp in a release. "We will not sit back and simply pass the cost of fraud on to our customers."
