TAX NEWS - January 2009

California tax: Sherman Oaks Attorney and five others charged with defrauding car insurers with false claims

Six people were charged on December 11, 2008, with participating in an auto insurance fraud ring that scammed companies out of nearly $1 million.

Attorney Hamid Taghizadeh, 46, of Sherman Oaks was the suspected ringleader of the operation. Taghizadeh allegedly paid people to bring him potential litigants to sue auto insurance companies -- an illegal practice known as "capping." 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.

Taghizadeh is charged with 86 felony counts, including insurance fraud, receiving or offering compensation for referrals, grand theft of personal property, and tax evasion.

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. Police are searching for Zekrollah Taghizadeh.

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. Ayala, who was charged with 83 felony counts, was arrested on December 10, 2008, 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.

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.

Two chiropractors accused of creating false documents as part of the fraud have also been arrested. 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.

This was a joint investigation with the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, the California Department of Insurance, and FTB.