United States Continental Reinsurance Co

A husband and wife accused of masterminding a massive insurance scam that bilked nearly 6,000 consumers and business owners--primarily Californians--out of more than $50 million have pleaded guilty to mail fraud, money laundering and other federal charges. Victims of the scam included Los Angeles merchants whose small businesses were destroyed in last year's riots, along with motorists injured in auto accidents whose coverage proved to be worthless.

A husband and wife accused of masterminding a massive insurance scam that bilked nearly 6,000 consumers and business owners--primarily Californians--out of more than $50 million have pleaded guilty to mail fraud, money laundering and other federal charges. Victims of the scam included Los Angeles merchants whose small businesses were destroyed in last year's riots, along with motorists injured in auto accidents whose coverage proved to be worthless.

Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi on Thursday moved to revoke the licenses of three brokerages that allegedly acted as funnels for millions of dollars' worth of questionable insurance sold to Californians by financially shaky offshore carriers. The brokerages are accused of allowing brokers' signatures to literally be rubber-stamped onto policies that otherwise couldn't be sold in California. Accused are Toma Surplus Lines Insurance Brokers Inc. of Marina del Rey and its principals, John D.

In what authorities called one of the most significant insurance fraud cases in U.S. history, the FBI on Friday arrested an Atlanta couple accused of operating an international insurance scam that bilked 5,500 consumers--the majority of them Californians--out of more than $50 million.

In the two years since an uninsured motorist violently rear-ended Bellflower resident Anthony Odiase, he has been socked with dunning notices from doctors--and empty promises from his insurance company. With $14,000 in medical bills, Odiase is just one in a parade of Californians left in the lurch by Southern Continental Insurance Co. Ltd. Authorities in the tiny Caribbean island chain of Turks and Caicos say Southern Continental lacked a valid license.