An Encino-based public insurance adjuster and a series of related companies allegedly submitted false claims, stole insurance funds and failed to complete repairs for more than a dozen clients, including two Eaton fire victims, according to a newly filed class-action lawsuit and a complaint from the state Department of Insurance.
The Department of Insurance is now moving to fine and revoke the licenses of Aleksandr Guldshtadt and his company, Nationwide Insurance Claims Advocates (NICA), and to reject a license application from his wife, Evghenia Gaiju, as result of its investigation, documents showed.
The revocation is pending a hearing expected to take place within the next month.
State investigators believe Guldshtadt controlled NICA while having financial interests in at least three of the contractors hired using client insurance funds. It is illegal in California for an insurance adjuster to “receive remuneration from or have a finance interest in” any firm that obtains business related to an insurance claim handled by the adjuster.
Gaiju is considered to have “aided and abetted” Guldshtadt, the complaint states.
Those related companies include Evolve Construction & Restoration, CalMaster Restoration and WD Contractor Services Inc, according to the Department of Insurance. Contractor licenses for each were issued to Guldshtadt or listed him as having at least 10% ownership stake, investigators alleged. One company was registered to Guldshtadt’s mother-in-law and two used the same business address as NICA.
Altadena resident Nadine Isenberg filed a class-action lawsuit April 30 that her attorney, Brett Moore, estimates could include 40 to 100 other victims across the state and potentially nationwide. Moore alleges NICA has taken advantage of not only families impacted by the January wildfires here in Los Angeles County, but other disasters as well.
“There are multiple victims, it is not just from the Eaton fire,” Moore said. “He owns Evolve,…
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