Man Arrested at Hearing Before Judge

While appearing in a Sacramento County courtroom for a preliminary hearing, James Chester Taylor Jr., of Quartz Hill, California, was arrested on three additional counts of felony grand theft in a different case. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office issued the arrest warrant as the result of an investigation conducted by the California Department of Insurance.

The recent investigation found that Taylor, who is reportedly not licensed to transact insurance in California, allegedly collected more than $113,000 in premiums for performance and payment bonds. Governmental agencies require prospective contractors to provide bonds as insurance for the completion of projects. The bonds can be individual surety bonds or insurance company bonds.

Taylor reportedly issued individual surety bonds to two California construction companies on separate projects using property located in Missouri as security for these bonds. This property, however, had an inflated value of $2 million. Upon completion of one of the projects, a standard, one-year lien was filed against the property by the governmental agency as security against future claims on the project.

Taylor's Missouri property went into foreclosure and was subsequently sold at a sheriff's auction for approximately $230,000, exposing taxpayers to great liability.

Taylor was originally arrested in California on Aug. 5, 2004, and charged with forgery, passing a forged document, and procuring or offering false or forged instrument. He is allegedly part of a scheme which used phony insurance certificates and fake contractor bonds to win bids on public works projects. Taylor is facing similar accusations in Pennsylvania, Texas, Missouri, and Louisiana.

TTrio Arrested for Auto Insurance Fraud

On March 16, investigators from the Fresno County Urban Organized Auto Insurance Fraud Task Force and officers from the Stockton Police Department arrested Amberjeet Kaur Gill, of Stockton; Pete Vargas, Jr., of Fresno; and Becky Bishop, also of Fresno, for multiple felonies, including solicitation to commit felony assault, surrounding an alleged auto fraud scheme.

The Fresno County District Attorney's Office is prosecuting the case. The Task Force is comprised of the CDI's Fraud Division and the Fresno County District Attorney's Office.

Gill was charged with four counts of insurance fraud, one count of solicitation to commit felony assault and one count of filing a false police report. Bail was set at $1,021,000. Vargas was charged with two counts of insurance fraud and one count of solicitation to commit felony assault. Bail was set at $1,010,000. Bishop was charged with two counts of insurance fraud.

The investigation began after the Fresno Help Eliminate Auto Theft task force received information about a suspicious auto theft. The ensuing investigation revealed that Gill was introduced by Bishop to Vargas, who was allegedly solicited to strip and burn Gill's Ford Explorer so Gill could report it stolen and collect insurance monies for the vehicle.

Additional investigating also revealed that Gill had allegedly solicited Vargas to severely beat an ex-business partner so that she could capitalize on her financial interest in their relationship. The former business partner had purchased an outstanding portion of a Fresno-area Port of Subs franchise from Gill's family. A clause in that sale, however, allowed for this ownership to revert to Gill if just one payment was missed, which likely would have occurred if he had been injured.

Calif. Student Arrested in Fraud Case

Alisa Louise Yates, and her husband, Gregory Daniel Yates, both of Buttonwillow, were taken into custody as a result of investigations by the California Highway Patrol, CDI's Fraud Division, and the Kern County Sheriff's Department.

Alisa Yates was arrested for one felony count of causing a fraudulent insurance claim to be presented for payment and one misdemeanor count of false report to a peace officer. Gregory Yates was also arrested for a false report to a peace officer.

The case is being prosecuted by the Kern County District Attorney's Auto Insurance Fraud Unit. If convicted on all counts, Alisa Yates, a student at Taft Community College, faces five years in state prison and/or a maximum $50,000 penalty. Gregory Yates faces up to one year in county jail if convicted.

According to authorities, on Nov. 24, 2004, Alisa Yates reported to the Kern County Sheriff's Department that a 2001 Dodge Neon was stolen from her residence. The Dodge Neon was insured with Farmers Insurance. After officers took the auto theft report, the vehicle was located a short distance from the Yates residence. The auto had sustained collision damage to its front and rear.

CHP officers suspected the physical damage to the Neon matched broken tail light lens and paint transfer they had observed in Yates' driveway. The CHP collision investigation reportedly concluded that Alisa Yates had actually parked the vehicle in the driveway where it was rear-ended by one of the family's other vehicles, possibly driven by Gregory Yates. Both were questioned by CHP regarding the reported loss and the damage, and both reportedly denied any knowledge of the collision. Alisa Yates also provided the same statement to Farmers' Special Investigation Unit.

The auto damage would have reportedly been covered by Farmers had the incident been reported as it apparently occurred.

Man Sentenced for Work Comp Fraud

Gregg Leo Curwick, of Rancho Cucamonga, California, has been sentenced by the Kern County Superior Court for workers' compensation insurance fraud after a joint investigation by the CDI's Fraud Division, the Kern County District Attorney, and the State Compensation Insurance Fund.

His sentence includes one year in the Kern County jail, $63,870 in restitution payments to 15 former business clients and SCIF, as well as a $4,420 fine.

Curwick self-surrendered in Bakersfield on Jan. 31, 2005. The investigation found that from 2001 through 2002, Curwick managed two different temporary employment businesses before becoming the co-owner and operations manager of A-1 Staffing in February 2003. All three business enterprises involving Curwick were in Bakersfield.

In November 2003, Curwick reportedly produced two fictitious workers' comp coverage certificates to construction business clients of A-1 Staffing, claiming that A-1 Staffing's employees were covered by workers' comp insurance.

After receiving the certificates, both construction businesses learned from SCIF that A-1 Staffing's workers' comp policy was cancelled in October 2003. When investigators contacted SCIF regarding the fictitious coverage certificates, they also learned that Curwick's two prior temporary employment businesses terminated operations while owing SCIF approximately $33,000.

The investigation indicated that Curwick allegedly pocketed monies paid by clients for workers' comp insurance premiums and employee income taxes. The investigation also revealed that Curwick underreported A-1 Staffing's monthly payroll and job classifications to SCIF to avoid paying additional workers' comp premium payments.

Some A-1 Staffing clients who had workers' comp policies with SCIF for regular employees and had already paid A-1 Staffing for workers' comp coverage were required to reimburse SCIF for temporary employees hired through A-1 Staffing.