A San Francisco man is the latest to fall in a sprawling Bay Area insurance fraud probe, after a federal jury yesterday convicted Colin Jackson of helping rig a crash-and-cash scheme that prosecutors say bled auto insurers out of more than $1.5 million.
The case is part of Operation Hammer Down, a multi-defendant investigation into staged wrecks, bogus claims and even an arson campaign tied to local towing operations, according to federal officials.
What Jackson Was Found Guilty Of
Jurors found that Jackson teamed up with towing operator Kirill Afanasyev to cash in on an already-wrecked car, and that Jackson walked away with roughly $27,000 from an insurer after a November 2018 claim, according to court filings and the FBI San Francisco. Prosecutors also said Jackson secured an insurance policy in June 2018 on a vehicle that could not be driven and lied on the application, including about the car’s estimated annual mileage. Those alleged misstatements were front and center at trial…