Auto shop owner accused of intentionally damaging cars in insurance fraud scam

Investigators say a man attempted to charge insurance companies a total of more than $170,000 for work he never did.

Under the microscope of a team of state and local investigators, accused auto body shop owner Adam Haddad pleaded not guilty to an intricate insurance fraud scam that he's alleged to have carried out under the radar for at least four years.

Howard Smith is among a growing collection of victims who claim they were tricked by Haddad, who owns Accurate Collision in Worcester and Everett.

"He's out of his mind," Smith said. "He just thinks he's above the law. He thinks he's invincible. Right now, my car is totaled. He had my car for two and a half years. It was something out a movie. Nightmare."

Smith said it began with what he thought was going to be a simple fix to his Maserati after a fender bender.

“It went from $4,000 in damage to $6,000 in damage to $9,000 damage to $12,000 damage to $22,000 damage, and the final number was $33,000 worth of damage," Smith said.

>>RELATED: Loughlin, Giannulli plead not guilty in college bribery scam

The Attorney General's Office said surveillance video from one of the shops shows Haddad using sledge hammers, mallets and pieces of wood to intentionally cause damage to vehicles, exponentially inflating the bills he sent to insurance companies.

“The third or fourth day, I said, 'Listen, I’ll give you my car, I’ll give you the storage, we’ll put this behind us,'" Smith said. "Absolutely not, he transformed into a monster. I'm disappointed because he's not locked up. He needs to be locked up, thrown in jail. Period."

Smith said he had to hire an attorney to get his totaled Maserati back from Haddad, who allegedly refused to give the car back and lied to investigators about what happened to the car, saying "maybe an 18-wheeler tractor trailer hit my car.'"

"He said, 'Well I want to get paid,'" Smith said. "I said, 'Show me what you did, my car was worse than what it was when I first came in here.' He dismantled it, he took the trunk off. He totaled my vehicle, he totaled it."

Meanwhile, Haddad could face jail time if convicted, but was released on personal recognizance Tuesday ahead of a court appearance next month.

Cox Media Group