THOUSAND OAKS : 2 Agents Arrested in Insurance Fraud

A mother-daughter team of Thousand Oaks insurance agents have been arrested by Ventura County sheriff’s detectives for alleged sales of bogus car insurance policies in California and Washington, detectives said Wednesday.

Ruby Isley, 47, of Beverly Hills and Suzette Lassiter, 26, of Phoenix were arrested Monday in Ventura County Municipal Court as they arrived to defend themselves against a small claims suit filed by one of their policyholders, said Sheriff’s Sgt. Kitty Hoberg.

The two were handcuffed and booked into Ventura County Jail on suspicion of grand theft and later released on $5,000 bond each, sheriff’s officials said.

“They were accepting premiums for insurance policies that were never written,” and are believed to have swindled at least 21 motorists in the counties of Los Angeles, Orange and Kern, and as far away as Washington, Hoberg said.

Isley and Lassiter sold motorists insurance policies from a Westlake Village mail drop office using the fictitious name California Auto Plan and the name of a real firm--the California Indemnity Co., which only writes policies for workers’ compensation insurance, Hoberg said.

The victims discovered their policies were worthless when “they send in claims but they are never paid, or they are paid and the check bounces,” she said.

Isley and Lassiter closed their office in December, she said.

“There are quite a few people that have been sending money, and there’s no insurance,” Hoberg said.

Detectives learned of the alleged scam after policyholders complained to the California Department of Insurance, which referred complaints to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, Hoberg said.

The department is asking other policyholders who bought insurance from Lassiter and Isley to call detectives at (805) 494-8201 any time between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.