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 Darin Jerome French, the owner of an appliance store in Incline Village, had a contract with Maytag Corp. to fix appliances under warranty in 2006 and 2007, according to a federal indictment.
By using serial numbers he copied from washers and dryers at local retail outlets such as Lowe's and Fry's Electronics, he submitted the false claims for repairs and travel expenses to the company that once advertised the dependability of its appliances by describing the Maytag repairman as "the loneliest guy in town."
French then had the money wired to his account at a bank at Lake Tahoe, a total of more than $150,000 in reimbursements for false claims, U.S. Attorney Ron Rachow said.
French, who denied the charges, could face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count. His lawyer, Leah Wigren, continually asked witnesses during the trial in district court in Reno whether they had direct knowledge of French's action and whether other employees could have submitted the claims on the company's Web site.
Kelley Deanna Moore, a record keeper for Maytag at the time, said some of French's billings came into question when Maytag was bought by Whirlpool Corp. in 2006. She found a number of service calls where there was duplicate information and some similar serial numbers with an added zero.
Ken Tyson, a senior analyst for Whirlpool, said French submitted claims from various places, including Mississippi, Tennessee, California and Nevada.
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 In 2006, French sought payment for 3,347 repair claims, totaling $522,000, Tyson said. While some were legitimate, about $353,000 worth of claims were fake, he said.
The company stopped wiring money to his account in 2007 after the false claims "came to light," he said.
The indictment lists counts for each week he submitted claims, some as small as $865, but most topping $10,000 and as high as $41,000.
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Information from: Reno Gazette-Journal, http://www.rgj.com
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