The owner of the Chalfont Collision Center was sentenced on Monday, July 10, 2023, to restrictive probation and ordered to pay more than $435,000 in restitution to the five insurance companies he defrauded by submitting nearly 300 false insurance claims over eight years.
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.
On Monday, Reis appeared before Common Pleas Judge Charissa J. Liller who sentenced him 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 insurance companies Erie Insurance, Nationwide Insurance, CSAA Insurance Group and 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 8 years were part of a crime spree that had the effect of increasing insurance premiums and costs across the board.”