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.”

Reis was charged in August 2022 following a 4-year investigation by the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office Insurance Fraud Unit.

The investigation began in September 2018 after detectives received 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, the owner of Chalfont Collision Center, 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 this investigation, the collision center’s credentials have been suspended.

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

This case is assigned for prosecution to Deputy District Attorney Marc J. Furber, Chief of Insurance Fraud and Economic Crimes.

Media Contact: Manuel Gamiz Jr., 215.348.6298, mgamiz@buckscounty.org