(September 2019) - In People ex rel.
Allstate Ins. Co. v. Suh, 37 Cal. App. 5th 253 (2019), the
California Court of Appeal affirmed the verdict in favor of
Allstate Insurance Company, finding that the defendants Christine
Suh and Christina Chang violated Penal Code section 550, committing
insurance fraud by procuring policyholder benefits through sham law
firms.
Christine Suh and her mother, Christina Chang, developed a
scheme to fraudulently obtain insurance proceeds. The defendants
operated eight sham law offices, paying individual attorneys $3,000
per month to use their names and state bar license numbers. The
defendants procured Allstate insureds as their
“clients,” filing 318 insurance claims on their behalf
– without the knowledge or authorization of the attorneys
whose names and bar numbers they were using – and diverting
insurance proceeds they obtained for their own personal use.
Allstate sued the defendants, alleging they had violated Penal Code
section
