Man sentenced in fake cat death claim
Oct 8, 2012, 8:38 AM | Updated: 5:45 pm
Yevgeniy M. Samsonov, 29, told PEMCO Insurance his cat (left) was killed in an auto accident in 2009. After a Google search, a claims representative discovered a photo of the same cat (right) online.
(left)
A Tacoma man who filed a massive insurance claim for a fictitious dead cat was sentenced Monday to 15 days in jail for attempted theft.
Yevgeniy M. Samsonov, 29, was also ordered to serve 30 days on electronic home monitoring and pay a $2,250 fine.
He sought to collect $20,000 from PEMCO Insurance for the death of his feline friend “Tom,” which he told agents “was like a son to him.”
Samsonov claimed the cat was killed during a March 27, 2009 traffic accident, during which his vehicle sustained minor damage after being hit from behind. The other driver’s insurer, PEMCO, paid Samsonov $3,452.
Years later, Samsonov contacted PEMCO to demand money for the cat, which he said was killed in the accident. He sent the company two photos of the animal.
After a search online, a PEMCO claims representative quickly discovered the cat did not belong to Samsonov.
“If you go to Google images and type in, ‘white cat with blue eyes,’ one of the two photos he submitted is the very first result you get on Google,” said Rich Roesler with the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner. “Not exactly a very difficult case to crack.”
According to Roesler, Samsonov filed a similar claim for a fake dead parrot named “Polly,” but will not be charged.
