Wednesday, Dec. 9, 1998 | 11:14 a.m.
The reputed mastermind of a two-state auto insurance fraud ring, who jumped bail after he and 21 others were arrested in 1993, finally will answer charges against him.
Romar Bilog, 38, pleaded guilty Monday to two felony counts of insurance fraud that could put him in prison for up to 12 years, although the others received probation, according to his attorney, Donald Green.
Deputy Attorney General Gregory Hojnowski said Bilog recruited Las Vegans to stage phony accidents in California and submit bogus claims for hundreds of thousands of dollars to insurance companies.
Hojnowski said the recruits were told how to create the "accident" damage to their vehicles by running into parking lot poles and then report that they had rear-ended cars that always carried four passengers. The victims, often illegal aliens, were instructed how to fake injuries and make claims, the prosecutor said.
Scripts were written for the participants to ensure the details were consistent.
The drivers primarily were recruited at the Gold Coast hotel-casino, but the accidents were staged in Southern California, where personal injury lawsuits were filed.
Green contended that a Los Angeles lawyer was deeply involved in the scam but escaped prosecution.
Hojnowski said Bilog had been dating the attorney's office manager at the time, but there wasn't enough evidence to show the lawyer was involved in illegal activity.
Bilog will be sentenced Feb. 8 by District Judge Kathy Hardcastle for his role in the scheme that bilked about $400,000 from the insurance companies. The two charges he admitted involved fraudulent acts against Allstate Insurance and the California State Automobile Association.
The ring came crashing down when Nevada lawmen acting undercover infiltrated the group, posing as drivers willing to claim they were responsible for accidents in exchange for a cut of the profits.
Hojnowski said the officers tape-recorded their conversations with Bilog, but the primary evidence came from Bilog's own records, which he kept in a computer notebook.
The notebook contained information on each driver and victim and listed contacts at insurance companies.
The prosecutor said that Bilog apparently fled to the Chicago area after jumping bail in 1993. He was tracked down late this summer.
The Filipino national was convicted during that time of federal charges of submitting false documents to obtain citizenship.
Hojnowski said that in addition to being booked on the insurance fraud charges, Bilog was held by police with the expectation that federal immigration officials would move to deport him.
But the INS has declined interest his immigrant status, and Bilog was released after posting $100,000 bail, the prosecutor said.
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