Northern California authorities have unraveled an organized insurance fraud ring that allegedly spanned two states and bilked 13 insurers out of more than half a million dollars.
A joint investigation between the Contra Costa District Attorney's office and the California Department of Insurance (CDI) culminated in the arrest of five individuals, whom authorities believe helped carry out the ring's operations, which ran throughout northern California and northern Nevada and may have collected between $400,000 and $600,000 from various insurance companies.
In August 2011, the CDI began its investigation of a suspected organized crime ring and its leader, Louis Houston, 49, of Richmond, Calif., who remains at large. Investigators allege that Houston submitted at least 65 insurance claims; including property losses from ten separate fires, 20 incidents of theft or vandalism, eight automobile accidents, and six incidents of water damage.
Recommended For You
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
