A former insurance claims adjuster from Valley Springs, Calif., her ex-husband and their daughter face allegations of stealing more than $147,000 by issuing false settlement checks.

Melody Ann Mosqueda, 45, a former claims adjuster for Zurich and Fireman’s Fund; Anthony Mosqueda, 52, her former husband; and Rachel Lee Anthony-Mosqueda, 28, the couple’s daughter, were all recently arrested and face multiple charges, according to the California Department of Insurance. Among the charges facing the family are 32 counts of insurance fraud.

The insurance department was alerted to the alleged scheme when workers from both Zurich and Fireman’s Fund independently discovered discrepancies in a claim Melody Ann Mosqueda handled for the companies, authorities said. Subsequent internal audits by both companies turned up multiple discrepancies in multiple claims, according to the department.

Detectives with the department allege Melody Ann Mosqueda, while employed with the two insurers between 2003 and 2007, input false information into legitimate insurance claims. She then allegedly issued payment for fictitious settlements and/or services, the department said, issuing checks to her and her family members who then cashed them.

The Mosqueda family also apparently created several bogus companies to which Melody Ann Mosqueda would then issue insurance payments and subsequently cash those checks, the department said.

Investigators discovered that the former claims adjuster had created and diverted checks totaling more than $175,000, but some checks were not cashed.