Owner Of Chalfont Collision Center Ordered To Pay Restitution

DOYLESTOWN, PA — The owner of the Chalfont Collision Center was sentenced on Monday for committing fraudulent business practices and was ordered to pay more than $435,000 in restitution to five insurance companies.

John Paul Reis, 56, of Newtown Township, entered an open guilty plea in March to insurance fraud, deceptive business practices, forgery, and theft by deception, all third-degree felonies.

As the owner of the Chalfont Collision Center, investigators said Reis defrauded five insurance companies by submitting nearly 300 false insurance claims over an eight-year period

Reis appeared before Common Pleas Judge Charissa J. Liller on Monday who sentenced him to 84 months of restrictive probation, with the first four months to be served on home confinement with electronic monitoring. He must also repay $435,246.69 to the following insurance companies: Erie Insurance, Nationwide Insurance, CSAA Insurance Group, Liberty Mutual Insurance, and NJM Insurance.

“Insurance fraud is not a victimless crime,” Deputy District Attorney Marc J. Furber said. “The defendant’s actions had a cost that greatly exceeded the high dollar figure with which he was charged. This cost trickled down to all consumers. The defendant’s actions over the course of eight years were part of a crime spree that had the effect of increasing insurance premiums and costs across the board.”

Reis was charged in August 2022 following a four-year investigation by the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office Insurance Fraud Unit.

Detectives launched an investigation in September 2018 after receiving a referral from Erie Insurance’s Special Investigations Unit that alleged the Chalfont Collision Center, at 74 Park Avenue, was enhancing and or creating damage to customers’ vehicles to inflate insurance estimates.

The investigation found that Reis concocted an insurance fraud scheme where he would wipe a compound mixture onto the body of several vehicles and sometimes strike them with a hammer, making it appear as if the vehicles were involved in an accident, so he could bill insurance companies for more money.

Because Chalfont Collision Center was a direct repair center for Erie Insurance and numerous other insurance companies, the collision center’s credentials meant they were verified by the insurance companies and were authorized to write estimates, complete the repairs, and submit the estimate/billing documents for payment, speeding up repair time for customers.

As a result of the investigation, the collision center’s credentials have been suspended.

The investigation was conducted by the Bucks County Detectives, with the assistance of the Central Bucks Regional Police Department, the Attorney General’s Office, and the Special Investigations Units for Erie Insurance, Nationwide Insurance, CSAA Insurance Group, Liberty Mutual Insurance and NJM Insurance.

The case is assigned for prosecution to Deputy District Attorney Marc J. Furber, chief of insurance fraud and economic crimes.