Owner of Glass Emporium of Marin Convicted of Wire Fraud

OAKLAND, CA—The owner of Glass Emporium of Marin, an automobile glass replacement company headquartered in Oakland with more than 60 stores throughout the country under the names of Glass Pro and Glass Masters, was convicted on March 18 of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, nine counts of wire fraud, and one count of obstruction of justice, United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello announced.

After deliberating four and one-half hours, a federal jury found that Mehrdad Hakimian had from 1999 through 2006 conspired to defraud insurance companies by misrepresenting the type and price of windshields installed and by overcharging insurance companies for moldings and other parts that were not used. The defendant was also convicted of destroying and concealing documents for the purpose of impeding an ongoing FBI investigation into him and his company. The guilty verdict followed a four-week jury trial before U.S. District Court Judge D. Lowell Jensen.

Evidence at trial showed that, beginning in 1999 and continuing until December 2006, Hakimian, 48, of Mill Valley, Calif., directed employees in the Oakland corporate office and managers located throughout the country to falsify invoices sent to insurance companies for the replacement of windshields and other automobile glass.

Just before trial, Hakimian pled guilty to two counts of harboring illegal aliens, one count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud, and nine counts of visa fraud. He also pled guilty to two counts of concealing undocumented foreign employees from U.S. immigration officials.

Last year, former Glass Emporium employee Aldy Antonio pled guilty to one count of wire fraud and Bobby Guinto, who continues his employment at Glass Emporium, pled guilty to one count of wire fraud. Glass Emporium Vice president Emma DeGuzman recently pled guilty to one count of harboring an illegal alien and one count of visa fraud.

The investigation began in 2005 when an employee in a store in Tennessee reported to the FBI that she believed fraud was occurring at the Glass Emporium Oakland corporate office. State Farm Insurance then conducted an investigation finding that they were defrauded in more than 300 of the 400 claims investigated.

The sentencing of Hakimian is scheduled for June 11, 2010 at 10 a.m. in Oakland. The maximum statutory penalty for each count in violation of wire fraud is 20 years, a fine of $250,000, plus restitution. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.

Wade Rhyne and Stephen Corrigan are the Assistant U.S. Attorneys who prosecuted the case with the assistance of Kathleen Turner. The prosecution is the result of a two-year investigation by the FBI.

Further Information:

Case #: CR 09-00021 DLJ

A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can.

Electronic court filings and further procedural and docket information are available at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

Judges’ calendars with schedules for upcoming court hearings can be viewed on the court’s website at www.cand.uscourts.gov.

All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney’s Office should be directed to Jack Gillund at (415) 436-6599 or by e-mail at Jack.Gillund@usdoj.gov.