Fifteen people have been charged with felony unlicensed contracting after an undercover operation to prevent fraud against victims of Southern California wildfires, officials said April 19.
“We are sending a message that we take this very seriously,” said San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos. “We want to make sure people aren’t victims twice.”
Of 21 people arrested, 15 were charged with contracting without a license in a declared disaster area, said Mike Ingram, chief investigator with the fraud division of the California Department of Insurance.
The charge is a felony because the unlicensed contractors were operating in a state-declared disaster area, Ingram said.
Five have been convicted or have pleaded to lesser charges and 10 cases are still pending, Ramos said. If convicted, the unlicensed contractors could face up to three years in state prison.
Members of the task force include the state Department of Insurance, the Contractor’s State Licensing Board, and county and city investigators and prosecutors, said Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi.
“Our undercover officers would stand around a house and pretend to be the homeowner,” Garamendi said. “The contractors would come and some of them were unlicensed.”
Task force members were prepared from the beginning to handle cases of fraud, which Garamendi said are common after natural disasters.
“This was organized the day the fire began,” he said. “We know from past experience that once the fire is out, the fire victim is likely to become a victim again of insurance fraud, contractor fraud or adjusters who are unscrupulous.”
A common scam involves people representing themselves as licensed contractors who ask for upfront payments for work they never intend to do, he said. In the past, he said unlicensed contractors have done shoddy work or billed for services never rendered.
“These people are victimized, they are traumatized, and they are searching for a helping hand,” he said. “Unfortunately, the only place some of these people’s hands are is in the pocketbook of the victim.”
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Topics California Catastrophe Natural Disasters Fraud Wildfire Contractors
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