“California Department of Insurance investigators work to protect consumers, as well as insurance companies, from fraudulent activity.  Unfortunately, that fraudulent activity sometimes involves licensed agents who attempt to collect commissions they have not earned.” – CSLEA President Alan Barcelona

LOS ANGELES – On June 2, 2022, Palmdale insurance agents Matthew Evans, 33, and Crystal Ezeb, 30, were arraigned in Los Angeles County Superior Court on 11 felony counts each of identity theft, grand theft, and attempted grand theft after allegedly stealing the identities of other insurance agents to gain more than $125,000 in unearned commissions.

The California Department of Insurance (CDI) began an investigation receiving complaints from two insurance companies that three licensed insurance agents (now considered victims of identity theft) submitted dozens of fraudulent life insurance applications in order to obtain commission payments from the insurance companies.

The investigation revealed Evans and Ezeb, of M&C Agency Corp., allegedly stole the identities of those three agents and one other agent to submit the fraudulent insurance applications. They allegedly submitted these false applications in order to collect advanced commissions that they did not actually earn.

CDI has initiated administrative actions seeking to revoke Evans and Ezeb’s insurance licenses. They are both scheduled to return to court on July 15, 2022. The case is being prosecuted by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office