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Matt's Off-Road Recovery Charged With Fraud, Filing False AAA Claims
- Thread starter Apparition
- Start date
OP
https://tfloffroad.com/2021/12/matts-off-road-recovery-lawsuit-news/
YouTuber Matt Wetzel has been charged with defrauding AAA with false insurance claims related to off-road recovery jobs.
Matt’s Off-Road Recovery is a popular off-road YouTube channel with nearly 900,000 subscribers as of December 2021, but the man behind it is facing fraud charges, according to recently filed documents reported by the Salt Lake Tribune.The court filing from late October alleges Matthew Wetzel, owner of Utah-based AAA affiliate Winder Towing and the YouTube channel, defrauded the insurance company with “numerous claims” that contained “material representations” of the jobs for which he sought compensation between January 2019 and August 2020. The Washington County Department of Insurance Fraud brought the case against Wetzel’s company for knowingly engaging in fraudulent towing claims.
Salt Lake City news affiliate ABC4 notes one example of the alleged fraud wherein Winder Towing billed AAA $2,800 to tow three separate vehicles, though one of the owners admitted that his vehicle was never actually towed when contacted by officials investigating the alleged fraud. Instead, Wetzel reportedly told that owner to submit three separate tow claims to AAA in lieu of paying to deliver construction materials.
In another instance, an owner who did not have a AAA membership used Winder Towing to recover a truck in Apple Valley, Utah. As the company rendered the service, Wetzel told him to join AAA, then file a claim a few days later, according to court documents.
A third case noted in the documents involved a Polaris RZR, of which Wetzel has recovered quite a few in videos uploaded to his YouTube channel. That owner told investigators he used a friend’s AAA membership to cover the tow, although the insurance company does not cover ATVs, including side-by-sides.
The investigation discovered $15,000 in alleged false claims
Over the year-and-a-half period noted by the court documents, the state’s Insurance Department noted $15,000 in claims containing “known material misrepresentations” to AAA. Wetzel, for his part, took responsibility for the claims sent to AAA but noted he did not turn in a claim that did not have a “legitimate service” tied to it. A statement from Wetzel’s legal counsel, as noted by the Salt Lake Tribute, says he is cooperating with the Attorney General’s office to “clear up any potential misunderstanding.” In a December 7, 2020 phone call with investigators, he said the claims were “wrong on the front end, but fair on the back”, and that he provided “numerous services” to the RZR customer before asking that owner to file a AAA claim.Per Utah state statues, insurance fraud in excess of $5,000 is a second-degree felony, punishable by one to 15 years in prison, up to a $10,000 fine, or both.
We’ve reached out to Winder Towing for comment, but have not gotten a response as of Wednesday morning. We’ll provide an update with their comment or other information that emerges from this case.
Damn. With the cash he's bringing on YouTube subs it makes you wonder why he's going after AAA for a few bucks here & there. He's popular as hell out here.
OP
Well that sucks. I watch his stuff, its entertaining and he doesn't seem like an ass. Hope he gets is sorted out.
Ah. Makes more sense. I'm sure this isn't an unpopular practice when it comes to tow/recovery drivers.
When I was in the auto industry one of the wreckers that we used just outside of DC was always pulling AAA scams. He also ran coke & weed all over the place. He said running drugs in a tow truck is easy because you can be anywhere any time of the day & not draw attention.
He got arrested for possession.
OP
It reads to me that the scams did more to help the people he was towing than him. Which makes it way dumber.
Yeah that's how I read it as well. Instead of making them come out of pocket for his time he told them to fudge a AAA claim. Very poor judgement from a business perspective.
MountaineerTom
LJ Enthusiast, Retired USAF Weapons Loader
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I like that about them. As stupid of stuff as people do, he doesn't degrade them or talk smack about them. At least I haven't seen it. I enjoy watching the channel.
Yeah, he makes great videos. Never boasts or brags about his own talents, never shits on the people who got in over their heads & got stuck. Just helps them out & talks about the recovery.
For those that haven't been sucked into the Utah YouTube vortex Matt's channel is good, I also enjoy Fab Rats and Trail Mater (the recovery using plenty'O front dig was posted recently here). They all really post entertaining content and seem like good guys.
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Aww dang. Tell me it isn’t true. Love how he treats folks with humility. Never has a cross word for poor judgment.
MountaineerTom
LJ Enthusiast, Retired USAF Weapons Loader
Supporting Member
Ride of the Month Winner
Kind does not always mean dumb. The risk was probably because he knew these people where never going to get the vehicles out without that.
Kind doesn't always mean dumb, but exposing your business to fraud to help someone out is a dumb decision. It would have been just as kind and much smarter to do it for free or let stuck people pay him whatever they can instead.
Ahh, yes. Do it for FREE!! There it is Modern American Capitalism.
https://jalopnik.com/off-road-recov...tm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_source=facebook
I just saw this and watch his channel too.
Looks like he got probation, has to pay a fine along with paying AAA back some $15k +.
Shame he did it as he probably makes more off youtube now. Sounds like it was as recent as a year ago based on thr razr tow linked in the article and referenced in the case. Insurance fraud investigators don't play around though. Especially when you film the while thing and post it online.
Sucks because they seem like good people but this was a very dumb decision.
I just saw this and watch his channel too.
Looks like he got probation, has to pay a fine along with paying AAA back some $15k +.
Shame he did it as he probably makes more off youtube now. Sounds like it was as recent as a year ago based on thr razr tow linked in the article and referenced in the case. Insurance fraud investigators don't play around though. Especially when you film the while thing and post it online.
Sucks because they seem like good people but this was a very dumb decision.
UKTJ
TJ Addict
The fine was under $2k but if he messes up during probation he won't be making any youtube videos.
Don’t forget those Lawyers fees. He makes more from youtube and his subsequent endorsements than towing. I’ve watched him since he started. In his earlier videos he complains how hard it is to do the filming and posting and that he does not know if he will keep it up. Good thing he decided to persevere. He can now pay people to film, edit and post.
Anyone know what his fallout with Casey’s off-road towing is about?
Anyone know what his fallout with Casey’s off-road towing is about?