Robinson Yang, Roland Yang, and Sotheany Hul got together one day and decided to start a business selling workers’ compensation insurance.    They knew the competition was going to be fierce – already on the playing field were large insurance brokerage firms, offering huge networks and manpower.  On the other side of the field were hungry young insurance wonderkids, ready to tackle any problem for a potential client and come up with creative new solutions.

But Yang, Yang, and Hul weren’t scared – they had an ace up their sleeves.  Not constrained by the old way of doing things, by the limits of today, or by any law or moral imperative to be honest, they decided they would just sell fake insurance certificates to employers.

Typically, an employer hands over money to an insurance broker, and the broker gets a commission for the policy, while the balance goes to the insurer to cover the costs of coverage.

Not so much in this case – the three were arrested recently for defrauding “hundreds of victims in 19 states and losses exceeding $700,000.”

After an investigation that began in April of 2009, the California Department of Insurance made its move. (Meanwhile, the total count of fraud victims grew and grew).

If you bought insurance from RJC Insurance Brokerage and Optima Staffing, United Employer Services, and National Employer Services, you might want to contact a real insurance broker.

Now comes the fun part – how do you deal with an injuries sustained by the employees of hundreds of victim employers over the course of several years?  The employers were effectively uninsured, but in such a state because of a fraud perpetrated by others.  On the other hand, an injured worker is entitled to treatment and benefits…

In any case, every employer now has one more item to add to its to-do list: verify with the state that the insurance company is real and that you have an actual policy!

Have a good weekend, folks!