Kent mother, daughter face insurance theft charges

Published 4:35 pm Tuesday, December 29, 2015

A Kent mother and daughter each were charged with one count of first-degree theft and one count of second-degree theft for reportedly keeping money meant to pay for medical bills after a vehicle collision.

Vivian Reece, 50, and Jamilia Caston, 26, both of Kent, each were charged in King County Superior Court, according to a Tuesday media release from the state Office of the Insurance Commissioner.

According to the charging documents, Reece and her daughter Caston were involved in a July 2014 collision in a parking lot; the at-fault driver was insured by State Farm.

State Farm paid Reece $6,200 and Caston $5,600 directly to pay their related medical bills and for pain and suffering. Both women kept portions of the money that were meant to pay the medical bills; the women’s health insurance paid the medical bills.

Later, in October 2014, Caston was involved in another collision and submitted medical bills from the July collision to the at-fault driver’s insurance, Nationwide, for payment. Nationwide referred the case to state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler’s Special Investigations Unit for investigation.