A Las Vegas business owner appeared in court to face charges in connection with a fake armed robbery of his cell phone repair store to collect money from his insurance company, federal officials said.
According to allegations in a federal court indictment, Erwin Lanada, owner of CPR Cellphone Repair, arranged co-defendant Marco Antonio Capistran to rob his store in October 2023 and gave Capistran a revolver to use during the robbery, the Department of Justice said in a release Wednesday.
The indictment alleges Lanada later filed fraudulent insurance claims with his insurance company for property loss and loss of income from the robbery and received $88,611.23 from the insurance company for his claims.
Lanada is charged with two counts of mail fraud, which both carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, the release said.
Contact Trevor Squire at tsquire@reviewjournal.com. Follow him at @trevordsquire on X.
