Uninsured California Subcontractor Charged with 30 Felony Counts

The California Department of Insurance is urging business owners to verify the insurance coverage for any subcontractor or vendor they do business with after trucking company owner and operator Raymond Youash, 37, of Encino, appeared in court on 30 felony counts of unauthorized use of personal identifying information and forgery.

The charges follow a CDI investigation, which found Youash allegedly created and distributed fraudulent insurance documentation to the businesses that employed him. The department launched the investigation against Youash after receiving a complaint from an insurance broker, finding that for nearly a year, Youash created at least 13 fraudulent certificates of insurance and submitted them to 12 different employers and/or prospective employers. Each of the fraudulent certificates contained forged signatures of licensed insurance agents as well as false information regarding insurance coverage.

Youash allegedly created and submitted the fraudulent insurance certificates to deceive businesses into believing he had the proper insurance coverage as required by law, put these businesses at risk of great financial loss.

Youash appeared in court for a preliminary hearing. This case is being prosecuted by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.