Yevgeniy M. Samsonov, 29, was involved in a minor fender-bender in 2009, when the car he was driving was hit in the rear by another car while he was stopped at a red light. Samsonov would later file an insurance claim for soft tissue damage to the face that allegedly took place at the time of the accident. He was eventually awarded $3,452 from the other driver's insurer, PEMCO.
Fast forward two and a half years later, and Samsonov then files a second claim, stating that his beloved pet cat Tom had been killed in the accident. The insurance company initially wrote him out a $50 check for the claim. Samsonov, however, insisted that this was hardly enough restitution money for the loss of his cherished pet feline, claiming he had paid over a thousand dollars for the animal and that he was "like a son" to him.
Samsonov also sent photographs of "Tom" to the insurance company, asking for $20,000 to cover the loss of the cat. Before forking over another check, the insurance company decided to do a little bit of investigating, googling images of white cats with blue eyes, as in the photograph Samsonov had sent them. They quickly discovered that Samsonov had submitted photographs of "Tom" to various web sites. They also discovered that the photographs were actually of two entirely different cats.
Samsonov has been charged with first-degree attempted theft and felony insurance fraud, with an arraignment scheduled for next week.
