Woman Ran Auto-Body Hail Damage Scheme: Prosecutors

DENVER, CO – A Denver woman, indicted by a grand jury as half of a team that stole almost $200,000 in an automobile hail-repair scheme, will appear in Denver District Court this week.

Alisha Smith and her former common-law husband, Anthony Lopez, both 34, are accused of theft and committing a conspiracy to commit theft. Smith turned herself in to Denver police Aug. 9. Lopez is still at-large, the Denver County District Attorney's Office said.

Prosecutors said that following the historic and devastating May 8, 2017, hail storm that hit metro Denver, Smith and Lopez, who had formerly been estranged, got back together. They started an auto hail-repair business registered to Smith called Elevation Performance LLC, located at 2555 W. Evans Ave., according to the indictment. The two began to solicit work repairing hail-damaged cars.

Within three months, Smith received and deposited more than $330,000 in insurance company checks and money from customers for the repair of around 50 vehicles. Some of the owners got their cars back in satisfactory condition. However, the owners of 27 cars did not receive satisfactory repairs, the indictment said.

Smith and Lopez embezzled around $200,000 from insurance companies and customers, the indictment alleges. The two spent the money on parties, bought two cars for themselves, paid personal expenses, and paid “wages” and “commissions” to friends and relatives. The indictment alleges that Smith deposited money in an account for her company, sometimes forging customers' signatures.

After a disagreement in August, Lopez, allegedly intoxicated and armed, fired a gun in Smith's home and was arrested and charged. He was bonded out and failed to appear in court.

After the incident, in early August 2017, Smith closed Elevation’s office and dissolved the LLC. "Customers’ vehicles were abandoned in various states of disrepair on the Elevation lot or parked on nearby streets," the indictment said.

Additionally, one customer paid Lopez in advance more than $8,100 to fix her vehicle after a 2016 traffic accident, but the vehicle was "not repaired and sustained additional damage," the DA's office said.

Smith is scheduled to appear in Denver District Court on Sep. 7.

Lopez remains at large. Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Anthony Lopez is urged to call their local police or sheriff’s department or 911.

Image via Denver District Attorney's Office

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