Speedy Auto Glass Accused of Fraud

The Insurance Corp. of British Columbia (ICBC) has accused Speedy Auto Glass of operating a kickback scheme and conspiring to defraud the public auto insurer, the Vancouver Sun reported today.

The Canadian newspaper indicated that court documents filed yesterday implicate at least five top officials at Speedy as being involved in the scheme and say that the officials and Speedy's parent company, Burnaby-based TCG International (TCGI), conspired to falsify documents and offer "kickbacks."

These "kickbacks" were made, it is alleged in the court documents, to attract large car dealerships and auto body shops after the initial, appropriate deductibles were paid. The Vancouver Sun reports that the court documents refer to this practice as "the kickback scheme."

The newspaper reports that there has been no estimate on the amount of money exchanged during the alleged fraud but that the court documents show that ICBC has paid Speedy $20 million since January 2002 for glass claims.
It is reported that ICBC has severed all ties with the auto glass company and are pursuing the case in civil court. Thus far they have not asked for a police investigation.

TCGI has released a statement regarding the accusations.

"We were surprised to learn of this situation this morning. We are extremely concerned with the allegations contained in the documents filed in court earlier today. However, we are not ready to comment on these documents as we are in the process of reviewing trhem and we are consulting with our legal counsel," writes the company.

The TCGI statement also maintains its stance that company policy to comply with ICBC policy and procedures and the company code of conduct requires its employees to act in a "ethical and legal manner." The company reassured customers and employees of the company that the stores throughout British Columbia would remain open; the company further stated that upon review of the court documents, they would issue an update, possibly as early as 3 p.m. today.