Luxury car insurance scam comes to screeching halt

Was Piyaresth Tangchaidee, also known as Peter Tang, of Chino, California, lucky in a life of luxury or just a really bad driver? Such is the question that launched an investigation by the California Department of Insurance that eventually led to Mr. Tang’s downfall.

Arraigned on two felony counts of insurance fraud, investigators allege he was renting out his luxury vehicles and making fraudulent statements after three cars — a 2015 Maserati, a 2011 Maserati and a 2012 Rolls Royce — were involved in collisions over two years at the hands of those renting the vehicles, the Sierra Sun Times reported Monday.

The problem is Mr. Tang was not licensed to rent vehicles, which he advertised on social media under the name “Gold Life Cars,” and his insurance company excluded damages caused in any rental scheme. Investigators said Mr. Tang rented out the luxury cars and later misrepresented the facts after the collisions, which resulted in a potential loss of over $100,000 to his insurance company, according to the article.