Auto glass owner pleads guilty in fraud case

A Battle Ground business owner who overbilled an insurance company for years pleaded guilty to first-degree theft in Clark County Superior Court earlier this week.

Robert Wooster, 51, the owner of Dr. Bob’s Auto Glass and DRB Enterprises Auto Glass, overcharged Farmers Insurance Company by at least $100,000.

“Insurance fraud costs everyone, in the form of higher premiums,” State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler said in a press release. “Dr. Bob was doctoring his invoices, illegally inflating them.”

Farmers Insurance contacted the Special Investigations Unit in Kriedler’s office and asked them to investigate the presumed fraud. Investigators served a search warrant on Wooster’s business in late 2007.

The investigation revealed two schemes for illegally billing the insurer.

In one scam, Wooster replaced chipped or cracked windshields but billed the insurer for more expensive side and rear windows.

The insurance commissioner’s office is aware of more than 100 cases in which customers had windshields replaced but where the records showed that Wooster had billed for other windows.

In the other scam, Wooster submitted false invoices. He cut and photocopied invoices to make it look like his costs were higher than they really were. He also fabricated invoices for parts that were never installed.

Wooster’s sentencing is scheduled for mid-February.