Owner Charged for Alleged Theft of Funds, Forgery

California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner announced that Craig Randall, 51, of Porter Ranch, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with 13 felony counts for theft of funds and forgery. If convicted, Randall could face up to six years in prison.

Randall, owner of EZ Discount Insurance Services Inc. in Chatsworth, allegedly collected at least $30,922 from 13 victims who sought to purchase commercial general liability insurance from September 2007 to July 2008. After he collected premium payments from clients, Randall allegedly failed to submit the payments to insurance companies.

Instead, he purportedly pocketed the money for personal use. On two separate occasions Randall allegedly submitted bogus certificates of insurance to make it appear that the businesses were insured.

As a result of this purported theft, at least one victim suffered an uninsured loss, and many others were exposed to uninsured losses. CDI investigators were able to seize more than $4,000 during the course of their investigation, to be held for possible restitution to victims.