Insurance fraudster sentenced for staging Tri-Cities crashes in $1M scam

A California man was sentenced to prison in a Tri-Cities insurance fraud case that involved an elaborate scheme to buy cars and stage crashes to collect on fake injuries.

As part of the case, he also admitted to threatening to kill the Eastern Washington family of a witness.

Ahmad K. Bachay, 40, was one of 23 defendants in the Eastern Washington District U.S. Court case with fraudulent payouts of nearly $1 million. He was one of the last to be sentenced.

He was sentenced to three years in prison and is liable for nearly $490,000.

Bachay was born in Iraq, lived in the Tri-Cities and San Diego after his naturalization, and then moved to Turkey in 2020 with his wife and children before his indictment.

He was arrested in England in May 2024 and resisted extradition to the United States for 16 months.

The conspirators bought cars for contrived crashes, often with cars of other defendants, and then filed insurance claims, saying they had been injured in the collisions.

Bachay bought a 2005 Toyota Sienna in January 2019 and sold it to another defendant, Amar F. Abdul-Salam, that month for $2,000.

The two and four others in the conspiracy staged an accident with an Infiniti FX35 on Court Street and Road 100 in Pasco the day after Abdul-Salam purchased the Toyota and insured it.

Six of the defendants in the case were riding in the Toyota and the Infiniti and filed insurance claims that falsely said they were hurt and lost wages as a result. Together they received nearly $327,000 in insurance money.

In September 2019 a person who is not named in court documents was recruited to participate in the insurance fraud ring. That person secretly recorded conversations for the FBI.

The FBI informant was given a 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee and issued a check for $2,000 from DGHM Transport, a commercial truck business owned by a defendant in the case, to create the false impression that he was an employee.

In September 2019, an accident was planned between the parked Jeep and a Chevrolet Traverse on Selph Road in Pasco. A case of water was placed on the Jeep’s empty front passenger seat, so the airbag would deploy.

Before police arrived, the case of water was removed and hammers were used to hit the Jeep to cause more damage. The FBI informant was instructed by a defendant in the case to falsely say he was driving the Jeep when it crashed.

Bachay, the FBI informant and four others then filed insurance claims and received a total of almost $89,000 for medical treatment, lost wages and vehicle damage. Bachay falsely reported that he worked as a janitor at a defendant’s cleaning company in California and received about $7,000 for lost wages.

Pasco car crashes

When search warrants were issued in the case in May 2020 for homes in Washington and California, Bachay was among defendants who tried to find out who was cooperating with the FBI.

The FBI informant was threatened by Bachay, who accused him of carelessly discussing the staged accidents with other people in the Iraqi community.

Bachay, then living in California, told him that he would travel to Eastern Washington to kill him and his family.

Bachay also told the FBI informant that he would kill the family in Iraq of a different person he suspected of cooperating with the FBI, according to court documents.

Brandon Pang, an assistant U.S. attorney for Eastern Washington who prosecuted the case, said in court documents that insurance fraud “is an egregious offense because it not only affects those involved, but society as a whole because this fraud results in higher insurance premiums for everyone.”

He also said that the staged accidents took the time of health care providers, emergency personnel and police officers that could have been used to help people in actual need.

Pang reminded U.S. Judge Mary Dimke of the time Bachay spent as a federal fugitive, and only returned to the United States after his arrest abroad and lengthy extradition process.

Bachay’s attorney said his client resisted extradition, fearing his three children would go into foster care. They now are under the care of his wife.

His prison sentence is a win for taxpayers and those who pay insurance premiums, said Pete Serrano, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Washington.

Bachay was sentenced to three years in prison for a charge of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud related to insurance claims and tampering with a witness.

Dimke also sentenced him to three years of probation after he is released from prison. The prison term includes about two years credit for time he was incarcerated after his arrest in England until his sentencing on Thursday.

The $486,000 he is liable for includes restitution of nearly $401,000 and forfeiture of $85,000.

Other prison sentences

Some of the lower-level participants in the case received deferred prosecution agreements or probation, but some who took a larger role, including leading the criminal scheme, were sentenced to prison, according to court documents.

Defendant Ali Yaser was sentenced to three years and six months in prison after making false reports to Tri-Cities police, falsely claiming the FBI agent working on the case had attempted to extort him and others.

Defendant Hussein Yasir, whose girlfriend worked for a law firm and was also a defendant in the case, told others in the conspiracy that working with an attorney would increase their profits. He was sentenced of three years in prison.

Bachay, Yaser and Yasir have received the highest sentences, with two defendants not yet sentenced, according to court documents.