Six people have been charged with participating in an auto insurance fraud ring that scammed companies out of nearly $1 million, authorities said today.
The ring was busted after a California Highway Patrol officer deciphered a numerical code contained in a ledger that was seized from a Sherman Oaks attorney's office, authorities said. That attorney, Hamid Taghizadeh, 46, was the suspected ringleader of the operation, according to authorities.
Taghizadeh allegedly paid people to bring him potential litigants to sue auto insurance companies -- an illegal practice known as "capping," said Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Gregory Alker of the Automobile Insurance Task Force.
Taghizadeh is charged with 86 felony counts, including insurance fraud, receiving or offering compensation for referrals, grand theft of personal property and tax evasion, Alker said. The investigation into the ring began four years ago when a suspected capper was pulled over by a CHP officer. This led police to search Taghizadeh's law office and seize computers, bank statements, claim files and the ledger with the numerical code.
CHP Sgt. Tannon Brown figured out that each number in the ledger corresponded with the first letter of a capper's name, authorities said.
Taghizadeh's brother, Zekrollah, 53, of North Hills, is accused of helping run the insurance fraud scam and has been charged with 32 felony counts, according to the district attorney's office. Police were searching for Zekrollah Taghizadeh.
Two chiropractors accused of creating false documents as part of the fraud have also been arrested, authorities said. Bassam Michael Naber, 48, of Canyon Country, is charged with six felony counts and Yousef Rushdi Helo, 43, of Simi Valley, is charged with nine felony counts.
Two alleged cappers have also been charged. Jose Miguel Ayala, 23, of North Hollywood, and Claudia Belen Cota, 32, of Sylmar, are accused of netting more than $270,000 in capping fees between them, Alker said. Ayala, who was charged with 83 felony counts, was arrested Wednesday night and released on $190,000 bail. Cota, an administrative assistant at Taghizadeh's law office, was charged with 53 felony counts and has not been arrested yet.
