VENTURA : 4 Men Arrested in Insurance Scam Sting

Ventura County investigators arrested three Los Angeles men Friday afternoon after a three-week insurance fraud sting operation.

“It was a pretty cool bust,” said Ventura County Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Jeffrey G. Bennett. A Los Angeles chiropractor also was arrested at his office by state Insurance Department investigators.

Bennett said the four suspects contacted a Ventura law firm and offered to illegally sell patient names from car accidents to Ventura lawyers. An investigator posed as an attorney and met with the four to arrange the sale. He agreed to meet the suspects Friday in a parking lot on Moon Drive near Victoria Avenue, Bennett said.

After the investigator exchanged more than $5,000 for the list, Ventura police officers and Ventura County sheriff’s deputies swooped in for the arrest at about 1:15 p.m.

Charles Allen, 41, Andre Holloway, 35, and Daryl Kilgore, 33, were all booked into Ventura County Jail on suspicion of felony insurance fraud. They remained in jail in lieu of $100,000 bail each. Randall Johnson, the chiropractor, was booked into Los Angeles County Jail on the same allegation. All four face up to three years in state prison if convicted, Bennett said.

“We don’t know if they’re just the couriers or the ringleaders,” Bennett said.

Bennett said it is illegal to sell patients’ names. Further, the names on the lists are often fictitious.

“Rings of people stage accidents and attorneys pay them cash” to handle their case, he said. Bennett said the fraudulent claims are often settled for as much as $30,000 by unsuspecting insurance companies.

“It’s a common scheme seen throughout California,” he said.

Last month, a grand jury indicted 10 Ventura County professionals after the district attorney’s office conducted a sting called “What’s Up Doc?” Those charged--including four chiropractors, a psychologist and two attorneys--are accused of illegally buying patient lists created by investigators.