Fraudcraft

Part 2 of 3 — Inside CDI: the money, the leadership, the system Ashley Ritchie breaks down the specific failures driving California's workers' comp fraud crisis — not opinion, casework. Covered in this episode: California's Fraud Assessment Commission pays out ~$89M/year to fight fraud — CDI gets 45% — but funding urgency spikes every April for grant reporting instead of running yea...

Part of our 3-part series inside the California Department of Insurance. 17 years in. Detective. Sergeant. Trainer. Ashley Ritchie left CDI in 2025 — and she's laying out exactly how the agency tasked with fighting insurance fraud actually operates. Causal link between rising workers comp / fraud crises & the failures in our law enforcement systems that are supposed to protect us.  Inside...

"Conjured nonsense." That's how DaisyBill CEO Catherine Montgomery describes California's official workers' comp data — and it explains everything else in this episode. The state won't enforce SB 1160, a 2016 law requiring utilization-review data. The DWC made its own mandatory reporting system (WCIS) voluntary. When RAND spent $300,000 studying care delays, only 2 cl...

She spent 17 years investigating insurance fraud from inside California's own fraud police. She just walked away. Here's what she's finally saying. Ashley Ritchie was a Detective Sergeant with the California Department of Insurance (CDI) — the agency that's supposed to catch the people scamming your insurance, your employer, and ultimately you. In Part 1 of this 3-part series,...

Karen Johnson - Voucher Fraud - Series Part 1 California's workers' comp system gives injured workers $11,000 to restart their careers. Fraud syndicates found out — and turned it into a $64 million-a-year scheme involving fake schools, forged signatures, and claimants who never set foot in a classroom. Karen Johnson spent a decade as the lone investigator screaming about it, and almost n...

Voucher Fraud Series Part 2  Karen Johnson is the foremost expert in California's most overlooked fraud — SJDB voucher and counseling school fraud — and she's back on Fraudcraft to break it all down. In this episode, Karen pulls back the curtain on how fraud syndicates use vocational retraining vouchers as a weapon: dangling the $6,000 benefit (plus $5,000 in state RTW funds) to lure inj...

What's in this episode: Rich Duffy went from landscaping to baby claims adjuster to one of the most respected SIU investigators in the country — the path was anything but straight Why networking is the #1 weapon in fraud investigation — and why 1,000 LinkedIn connections means nothing if you never use them The California workers' comp system is its own beast: ancillary service fraud (int...

They don't have a boss. They don't have a chain of command. Half of them have never met each other — and that's exactly how it's designed. San Bernardino Deputy DA Michael Chiriatti breaks down why California's workers' comp fraud networks are deliberately fragmented — multiple hubs, multiple spokes, rabbits at the bottom of rabbit holes who don't even know other...

She spent 17 years prosecuting the most complex insurance fraud cases in California — and she saved the most explosive admission for last. In this episode of Fraudcraft, recently retired Kern County Deputy District Attorney Kate Zimmermann drops a bombshell: California's workers' compensation system doesn't just have a fraud problem. According to Kate, large fraud syndicates are run...

The tools to fix California's workers' comp fraud problem already exist. The laws are written. The statutes are clear. So why is the fraud still winning? Retired Kern County Deputy DA Kate Zimmermann spent over a decade building some of the most complex organized fraud cases in California — cases that took years, covered dozens of locations, and exposed schemes so sophisticated they were...

Investigating & Prosecuting Fraud Syndicates, Fraud Rings in CA Workers' Comp is ridiculously challenging so the trick is to listen to those with battle scars. Step 1, breaking everything down to its simplest form. Materiality. Suspect's representation of facts. Statutory Definitions. Theories of Liability. Effective translation of case facts. Recently retired Kern County Prosecutor...

Insurance fraud in the commercial space isn't a niche problem — it's a billion dollar underground economy that grows every year. A 30-year law enforcement veteran explains the institutional failures inside district attorney offices that let fraud syndicates operate with near impunity. Incompetent judges, unwilling investigators, broken referral pipelines — this is what's actually dr...

California businesses are paying into a system they don’t fully understand. Every year, roughly 0.66% of your workers’ compensation premium goes toward funding fraud investigations in California—totaling nearly $90 million annually. But where is that money going? And is it actually working? In this powerful episode of Fraudcraft, host Teena sits down with two insiders: Shaddi Kamiabipour – Former...

In this insightful episode of Fraudcraft, host Teena sits down with Don Marshall, a recently retired Vice President of a national insurance company's Special Investigations Unit (SIU) and former Chair, California Fraud Assessment Commission. With more than 40 years investigating fraud and leading fraud-fighting teams, Don reveals how fraud syndicates operate inside the workers’ compensation s...

In this explosive episode of Fraudcraft , host Teena interviews certified court interpreter Gilberto Martin del Campo , who discovered that someone impersonated him during a California workers’ compensation deposition. Yes — another interpreter appeared on Zoom using his name. Gilberto shares: How he became a state and federally certified interpreter The rigorous testing process most people don’t...

In this explosive episode of Fraudcraft, Teena sits down with: • Mariana Bension-Larkin — President of AIJIC (Association of Independent Judicial Interpreters of California) • Shaddi Kamiabipour — Former Criminal Prosecutor They discuss disturbing allegations of certified court interpreters being impersonated during California workers’ compensation depositions. According to sworn declarations, ind...

What happens when a seasoned violent crimes prosecutor is reassigned to the insurance fraud unit? In this episode, we sit down with a career retired prosecutor who made the challenging transition from prosecuting violent crimes to tackling complex insurance fraud schemes. She shares what surprised her most about the move, the steep learning curve involved, and why fraud cases can be just as diffic...

Just last week while at the California Work Comp Board, Defense Attorney Julia Heilbron caught a scheme by a couple of law firms & a chiropractor pushing pills on a Latina Worker. Subscribe to Fraudcraft to listen to Part 1 & 2 of the story. Please subscribe, hit like, sponsor us! Kindly support us so we can support our charities – Joshua Tree No Kill Animal Shelter & Stray Cat Allianc...

CA Work Comp Defense Attorney Julie Heilbron caught fraud syndicates in action at the Work Comp Board in Southern California victimizing a Latina Injured Worker and her USMC Military Combat Veteran Son. Julia swooped in to help the two get justice. Subscribe to our podcast to get Part 1 & 2 of the story. Support us so we can keep rolling with exposing fraud syndicates & fraudcraft! fraudcr...

CA Work Comp Defense Attorney Julie Heilbron caught fraud syndicates in action at the Work Comp Board in Southern California victimizing a Latina Injured Worker and her USMC Military Combat Veteran Son. Julia swooped in to help the two get justice. Subscribe to our podcast to get Part 1 & 2 of the story. Support us so we can keep rolling with exposing fraud syndicates & fraudcraft! fraudcr...

Prosecutor (Ret) Shaddi Kamiabipour talks about her journey from prosecuting violent crimes to insurance fraud. See how it all begins. Find the full episode this week on Fraudcraft. Please subscribe, hit like, sponsor us! Kindly support us so we can support our charities – Joshua Tree No Kill Animal Shelter & Stray Cat Alliance #fraudcraft #fraud #fraudalert #fraudprevention #fraudschemes #fra...

CA Work Comp Attorney catches a doctor sending him exact replica medical reports on his clients, indicative of fraud syndicate schemes. Patients suffer. Businesses suffer. Subscribe to Fraudcraft & help us expose these fraudsters. Please subscribe, hit like, sponsor us! Kindly support us so we can support our charities – Joshua Tree No Kill Animal Shelter & Stray Cat Alliance #fraudcraft #...

Too many people still think fraud is a victimless crime. And, too many people think that injured workers are the ones committing all the fraud when in reality it's fraud syndicates, the organized crime networks of fraudster cappers, fraudster doctors & fraudster attorneys capturing injured workers into their fraud schemes. We, the consumers, all pay higher prices at the grocery store, con...

One of the secrets to being a successful fraud syndicate is the appearance of legitimacy. Prosecutor (Ret) Shaddi Kamiabipour exposes this secret. Please subscribe, hit like, sponsor us! Kindly support us so we can support our charities – Joshua Tree No Kill Animal Shelter & Stray Cat Alliance #fraudcraft #fraud #fraudalert #fraudprevention #fraudschemes #fraude #fraudinvestigation #business #...

Fraud Syndicates, fraud schemes, need the lawyer as a vital role to file the litigation against the employer to effect their fraud schemes. Prosecutor (Ret) Shaddi Kamiabipour takes you deeper into this scheme. Please subscribe, hit like, sponsor us! Kindly support us so we can support our charities – Joshua Tree No Kill Animal Shelter & Stray Cat Alliance #fraudcraft #fraud #fraudalert #fraud...