California Nets 'Big Fish' for Insurance Fraud

The accused kingpin of a California multimillion-dollar insurance fraud ring and one of his alleged top henchmen were arrested by Los Angeles County District Attorney investigators as part of an ongoing probe into phony auto accidents.

The ring is believed to have staged some 2,600 accidents in the last two years. District Attorney Steve Cooley lauded the outcome, the result of a 12-month Urban Auto Insurance Fraud Task Force investigation dubbed “Operation Big Fish,” involving 16 agencies and thousands of hours of work. Search warrants were executed at 24 locations, including one in Riverside County, as the scheme allegedly involved a network of attorneys, chiropractors, doctors and body shops.

The defendants, Alexander Igor Gutman (dob 09/08/61), 46, of Sherman Oaks, and Laszlo Aldar Bango (dob10/19/72), 35, of Van Nuys, are due to be arraigned at Los Angeles Superior Court, Department 30. The two men are charged in case No. BA340194.

Gutman, who was the main focus of the investigation and who authorities referred to as “Big Fish” for his principal role in the scheme, was arrested within a quarter-mile of his home. Bango was arrested at his residence. The defendants were taken into custody without incident, authorities said.

Deputy District Attorney Gregory Alker of the Auto Insurance Fraud Division said Gutman is charged with 29 felony counts, including 26 counts of insurance fraud, two counts of criminal threats and one count of theft from an elder. Bango, a Hungarian fugitive with an expired visa, faces nine counts of insurance fraud, two counts of criminal threats and two counts of theft from an elder. The charges against the two men carry excessive-taking allegations of aggravated white-collar crime and excessive loss of more than $200,000.

Prosecutors allege that between November 2002 and January 2008, Gutman recruited hundreds of new claimants and scripted their bogus accidents. To maximize profits and control the thousands of fraudulent claims he generated, Gutman organized a ring of legal, medical and automotive repair professionals to process the claims and work with the fake claimants. Bango purportedly was a co-conspirator.

Prosecutors further allege that most of the reported accidents were “paper accidents” that did not involve real collisions. It is believed that conspiring body shops, including two owned by Gutman, inflicted physical damages to the vehicles reportedly involved. Authorities said Gutman often received as much as $60,000 per false claim.

Bail for Gutman has been set at $5 million and bail for Bango at $2 million. If convicted, Gutman faces a maximum sentence of 39 years and eight months in state prison. Bango faces a maximum of 16 years and four months.