A tangled web: the seattle police's case against mike webb

Reading over the "facts, and circumstances" that Seattle Police Detective Randal Woolery presented to the court determining probable cause that KIRO talk host Mike Webb committed the crime of Filing a False Insurance Claim, we concluded: This is so crazy, HE MUST BE INNOCENT!

The cops say that on June 28, 2005, Michael Kenneth Webb was involved in an accident in his 2000 Lexus GS-3, 4-door in Seattle's Eastlake area. The damage to his car was estimated at $4000 and the accident was judged by the investigating officer not to be Webb's fault.

At the time of the accident, the report says, Michael Kenneth told the investigating officer that he had car insurance with National Merit and provided proof of same.

The following day, (June 29) according to GEICO records, Webb bought over the phone, a 6-month insurance policy for the Lexus from the widely-advertised national insurance company. The cops say he elected to have monthly payments debited from a Washington Mutual Bank account. GEICO records showed the first payment of $151 was debited from his account on that day, June 29. The next payment was debited from his account on July 4th, again for $151.

On June 30, according to the police report, GEICO got a breezy e-mail from Michael Kenneth stating: "I need to get a copy of the policy via email (sic) as promised. I signed up day before yesterday and they said it would come same day. can (sic) you please please check this ? Thank you, Mike."

Later that same day, police say Webb called GEICO to report the June 28 accident and start a claim process. The company started a claim with the repair estimate for the Lexus' damage in the amount of $5982.47.

GEICO's records, according to police, indicated the policy the claim was made under had been opened after the accident occurred. The company concluded therefore, that the coverage was not in effect. Police say the claim was then assigned to GEICO Special Investigation Unit (SIU) investigator Bill Brown.

The report continues: "During GEICO's investigation, the defendant [Mike Webb] continued to express that his policy was in effect when the accident occurred and that he applied for the policy on-line with GEICO on May 20, 2005 with a policy period of May 30 to Nov. 30 2005. GEICO's records indicated that the policy period is June 30 to Dec 30, 2005."

Webb made this claim in taped interviews with a GEICO claims rep; and Investigator Brown. The latter was conducted in the office and presence of Webb's attorney, sports celebrity lawyer Bradley Marshall. 

This is the part that's most incredible: During the interview in Bradley's office, police say Webb presented Brown with a heavily redacted copy of his Washington Mutual on-line bank statement for the date range of May 19 to June 15. Highlighted were debits dated May 20 and June 7, each in the amount of $151 and purporting to be from DIRECTDEBIT/VISA-GEICO. 

The police report says Webb contended this was proof that his GEICO policy was effective in May 2005 and in effect when his accident occurred on June 28.

Investigators write that when they requested permission to view Webb's on-line banking record in its entirety, or get a copy of his statement directly from the bank, he refused.

No surprise that Detective Woolery got a search warrant from Superior Court Judge Michael Trickey on Nov. 8, trooped over to Washington Mutual and grabbed 11 pages of documents from Webb's accounts at the bank.

Police reports say when the real bank statements were compared with the marked-up on-line statement Webb gave investigators in August, they "failed to show debits occurring to GEICO on May 20 and June 7." A bank investigator confirmed that the bank had no records of debits on those dates, although there were debits posted to accounts payable to GEICO on June 29 and July 4, 2005. This was consistent with the payment information provided by the insurance company.

Remember the "proof of insurance" from National Merit, Webb gave the cop at the time of his accident? In the August attorney's office interview, the police report says Webb said he kept the National Merit policy until he applied for the GEICO policy, which he was alleging he did in May, 2005. But according to police, Chris Fannin from National Merit confirmed in a statement that Webb had coverage on the Lexus but his policy was cancelled on July 30, 2001.

If this is as stated in police reports, Webb had driven his expensive car without insurance since 2001 and yet possessed "proof of insurance" that somehow satisfied a police officer's cursory inspection.

Webb is innocent until proven guilty. These charges are so outrageous and unbelievable; the amount of money so trivial (especially for a well-paid entertainer) there must be another explanation. How could anyone- even Mike Webb- be so stupid or greedy or arrogant or blinded by ego to ever believe  such a scheme could be successful? 

He has pled not guilty and we look forward to his day in court- maybe there we can get the real story.

Comments

[Andrew]

So we're guessing he doctored his old insurance card to appear current:

He might have reasoned the other driver's insurance company (assuming they had one) would see that he didn't actively have insurance and accuse him of fault for the fact that he was uninsured moving road obstacle. If that were the case and that held he would not only be on the hook for his own car's damage but also the other car, as well as having been driving uninsured and if it's true he used a fake insurance card then he would be in more trouble.

So he might have realized it's a huge gamble to try and trick an insurance company but decided to try in order to avoid the alternative. It's not unreasonable to think that the procedures of the different agencies working back and forth can take several days and he mighth have hoped that he could slip in between the paper work by acting fast, and underestimated their precision.

I'm suprised he allegedly relied so heavily on a doctored document. If true, I wonder if he has done that allot in the past with different things. I've never contemplated trying it but I can think of several situations off the top of my head where the papers or receipts or ID or stubs you provide are are all the proof that is required to get something.

[umo]

Guys like Webb who publicly pontificate about ethics & morality while condemning Republicans as scumbags always turn out to be the biggest scumbagsn of all.

[Andrew]

And gay hating mayors always turn out to be the gayest mayors.

[drool]

Looks like Webb is off the air all this week.

[afasaasd]

I wish it had happened to lou pate instead. As tiring as dori monson is becoming, he's infinitely more listenable than pate.

Jesus christ, yesterday's topic about "unwanted babies" was akin to bamboo underneath the fingernails.

[joanie]

And Frank Shiers in for Webb is a close second to the "bamboo underneath the fingernails" analogy!

[PeakLimiter]

Good thing Michael is a decent blogger and not in Law Enforcement. He's stone cold busted and there is no doubt he will be found guilty or enter into a plea agreement with Mr. Marshall's assistance. The answer to Michaels final question is simple. It is because Mike Webb IS so stupid, greedy, arrogant and blinded by ego to believe such a scheme could be successful. It's been his M/O for years!

[Fritz]

IMHO, the carefully doctored online bank statements establish an element of intent that substantiates the allegations of a criminal undertaking to recover from GEICO unlawfully, no casual error of overlapping calendar dates when changing policies.

[K]

Looks like Webb's fatal mistakes were 1)thinking he was above carrying insurance 2) thinking he could abuse his position at KIRO yet another time to circumvent the law, and 3) thinking he could fool "professionals in their field" - something very elusive and foreign to him.

[Andrew]

I don't think he tried to abuse his position at KIRO did he?

[K]

Sounds like you are not sure, maybe KIRO should look into it.

[Andrew]

What?

[K]

Did not mean to confuse you. Let's put it this way, I wish I had a dollar for every time Mr. Webb threatened to use his talk show against people and/or organizations to get what he wants.

[Andrew]

Ooooooh sorry. Dori likes to pretend his show matters also. They think they are regular Bill O'Reillys.

[sparky]

...uh..like Bill O'Lielly is someone to aspire to?? That might explain a few things....

[Andrew]

He managed to get a bunch of protesters to march outside of some Walmarts. That's more than Dori or Webb could ever hope for.

[Chad Stanley]

I'm no fan boy of Mr. Webb, but I can't believe that ANYone, no matter how arrogant, would drive an uninsured freakin' Lexus in this town. That makes no sense.

Yes, he is of the combative sort, who may feel above second guessing, but jeez how can you jeopardize your Lexus, your pride n joy? I'm enough of a capitalist that I respect the cache of the Lexus name, and if Mike drove around uninsured for four years ...well, that's not arrogant, that's just dumb. And I don't think anyone can call Mike dumb.

Then again, Nixon was no dummy and he didn't have a problem with bending the facts to suit his needs. Very strange stuff indeed.

[Andrew]

Alot of people seem to get involved with wrecks every few years but some people have never been in one and if you're one of those people you can believe your risk are low based on your own personal experiance. You can't honestly expect people who;ve never been in one to stop whatever they're doing to look up accident statistics and give them a long hard thought.

[sara]

What am I missing here? It's the law to have insurance.

[sara]

"You can't honestly expect people who;ve never been in one to stop whatever they're doing to look up accident statistics and give them a long hard thought."

There is no need for "a long hard thought." It's the law to have insurance. No-brainer.

[Andrew]

Breaking the law doesn't necessarily mean someone is dumb. Some lawbreakers have mad smarts.

[umo]

The bank statement shows a Geico debit back in May. The bank statements were obviously examined by Webb's lawyer and presented to the police and the insurance investigator. GEICO has some splaining to do.

[Sailor Republica]

I'll be honest, I don't usually come over here. But, as a fellow blogger, I don't care if you're Left-leaning most of the time, keep up the good work on Mike Webb.

It comes down to 1 basic principle: You don't drive an uninsured Honda Elite (aka Lexus) around the city of Seattle, unless you wish to face the consequences.

That principle was mentioned in a comment a few back, and I echo it here as well.

[K]

umo - I guess you did not catch the fact that the "heavily redacted May statement" that Webb provided did not match up to Washington Mutual's bank records or Geico's payment records, which both show his first payment was after the accident. Looks like Webb (Seattle Times article this morn) is claiming a conspiracy by SPD against him AND someone hates him and hacked into his computer AND GEICO's online policy application process had a clerical error?? For all this to be true, someone at GEICO, Washington Mutual, and SPD would have to be conspiring together, committing crimes themselves in the process, just to bring down a late night, local radio worm.

[K]

THe hacking allegation by Webb is very funny - someone would have had to hack into Washington Mutual, his PC, GEICO, National Merit, etc. And what about the falsified document he produced - I'm sure forensics can be used to show if the hardcopy is legit. AND what about the policy numbers being issued in sequence, with GEICO's numbers showing there is no way his number was issued in May. I think the evidence is going to pile up, he should keep quiet and save whats left of his dignity.

[Belltowner]

as Kanye would say

"better get Geico with yo mon-ay"

Before the accident, that is.

[umo]

Mike Webb's lawyer did his client a gross injustice by not informing him that using forged documents to pull his insurance scam was a losing proposition.

[Critter]

Yes, andrew. Having insurance before you can legally drive your car is the law; at least in this state and probably in all/most.

[Andrew]

Breaking the law doesn't necessarily make a person dumb or bad. What is truely dumb and bad is obeying the law simply because it's the law. The law is meant to be fair and evenly aplied but laws are man made and imperfect and enforcement is even less perfect so it's ultimately up to individuals to look out for their own best interests and their own health.

I'll admit that driving without insurance to the east side and back everyday is a bad idea but if you own your car outright and only drive to and from a grocery store every few days the cost to benefit ratio of having insurance would be greatly off balance and good luck trying to rationalize such things with an insurance company.

[sparky]

But when insurance companies have to pay up for uninsured drivers, then my premiums go up...

[ExDem]

OK Andrew, how about this approach - the default is that we should all obey the law because it is the law. Then, under extreme circumstances, maybe a person should consider breaking the law if there is a greater harm that would result from following the law. For instance, by all means I will jaywalk if I need to get across the street quickly to prevent a small child from wandering into a busy street. But, those should be rare exceptions. Driving to work every day and ignoring the law probably is not a good idea, and should probably be punished when discovered by the police.

If we want to live in a society of laws, not men, then we should recognize the legitimacy of our legal system and our legislative process. Otherwise, we run the risk of too many people deciding that the law doesn't really apply to them or their situation.

As for Mr. Webb, let the system work and determine whether he is guilty.

[Fremont]

68% of car accidents occur within ten miles of home...which include the "drive to and from a grocery store every few days", so the cost/benefit ratio may not be so terribly skewed.

[joanie]

"umo - I guess you did not catch the fact that the "heavily redacted May statement" that Webb provided did not match up to Washington Mutual's bank records or Geico's payment records, which both show his first payment was after the accident. Looks like Webb (Seattle Times article this morn) is claiming a conspiracy by SPD against him AND someone hates him and hacked into his computer AND GEICO's online policy application process had a clerical error?? For all this to be true, someone at GEICO, Washington Mutual, and SPD would have to be conspiring together, committing crimes themselves in the process, just to bring down a late night, local radio worm."

Maybe it's a hacker with a fetish for fixing financial records . . .

[sparky]

If it was a hacker, they would have hacked the banks records, not just what Mike had in his hand.
As much as I used to like listening to him, the idea that someone is "out to get" him is highly unlikely.
Efforts to do anything but admit to momentary mental illness only makes things worse for him.

[chris]

Damn, Abramhoff's squealing and Delay and Libby's trials will probably blow a big hole in media coverage of Webb's indictment.

[Andrew]

Sparky & ExDem: I'm arguing the selfish point of view because the argument isn't right versus wrong, it's dumb versus smart, and when you weigh the risk of 1
1) getting in an accident 2) getting pulled over without insurance or 3) getting hit by someone else than it can be a smart move to not get insurance if you drive infrequently.

Mike Webb obviously drove frequently but it's dumb to say that driving uninsured is bad investment (or a sin against the lawmaker gods) in any situation.

Fremont spreads this propaganda: "68% of car accidents occur within ten miles of home"

If you believe most accidents you're involved in happen near your home simply because you're near home then you must believe that your home emits demonic bad luck rays that effect nobody but yourself and whoever hits you or you hit.

I've heard a similar misleading statistic used to encourage seat belt use, but I'd bet that like 68% of all driving in general occurs within ten miles of home unless it turns out that everyone is going to Oregon to shop in which case me so sorry.

[Mr. Genius]

Ok, so Webb's an insurance scamming scumbag - he never has shown anything but an atrocious lack of anything remotely resembling 'character'. He had to hang up on callers to his show because he never could compete intellectually - that much was always obvious. Yes - he is dumb enough to actually believe he could pull of this scam. In fact, when he heard 68% of accidents occurred within 10 miles of home he moved! I guess the 'devil' made him do it or hackers stole his computer or whatever but the truth is, even driving a 6 year old car without insurance is extremely DUMB. The police and insurance companies have no doubt now 'atempted' to explain that to mike kenneth who apparently thinks he can still respond with some idiotic nonsense befitting his usual talk show banter. So now the judge will explain to mikey why running an insurance scam is sorta hard to hang up on. Stay tuned to find out in the future how he was persecuted and this is all homophobic! Kiro should be jumping for joy right now that they may be the latest in a long line of radio stations that can now fire Webb and having credible ammunition to face the inevitable lawsuit charging them with being anti-gay. They need a real host in that slot who is more credible and capable. Bob