Rooting Out Insurance Fraud: How to Spot It and What Brokers & Agents Must Report If It’s Suspected

Steve Smith, CFE, CA SIU Related Seminars and Products

Compliance Manager

J.D. Wesson & Associates, Inc

Steve Smith (CFE), JDW's California SIU Compliance Manager has 23 years of audit experience of which 13 of those years were California SIU Compliance audits (Insurance Company Anti-Fraud Programs). Prior to starting with JDW in July of 2025, Steve served as the California Department of Insurance (CDI) SIU Compliance Audit Manager and as a CDI Enforcement Branch Senior Manager overseeing CDI's SIU
Compliance Operations. Mr. Smith's SIU Compliance responsibilities involved developing audit plans/procedures, developing SIU regulations and legislative concepts, providing SIU industry training, and SIU insurance company noncompliance penalty determinations and policies.

At CDI, Steve also managed statewide audits of District Attorney Insurance Fraud Grant programs and served two years managing CDI's Enforcement Branch Forensic Audit Team, supporting criminal investigations through specialized financial analysis. Steve's auditing and consulting career also included working for the California Highway Patrol Office of Inspector General, the California State Controller's Office, the California
Department of Fish and Wildlife and various private industry firms providing governmental consulting services.

Steve Young Related Seminars and Products

Senior Vice President & General Counsel

Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of California

Stephen L. Young is Senior Vice President and General Counsel of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of California. He provides counsel on all corporate legal matters affecting the non-profit trade association and its subsidiaries, represents the interests of independent insurance agents and brokers at regulatory hearings conducted by the California Department of Insurance and other state agencies, coordinates the Association's involvement in litigation affecting insurance producers, provides legal research and support to the Association's legislative advocates, and provides legal information to member agencies and brokerages.

Young has served on the Insurance Law Committee of the State Bar of California, was a charter member of the Agent and Broker Advisory Committee to the California Insurance Commissioner, and is a frequent speaker and author on legal and regulatory developments affecting the business of insurance.

He was the 2007 recipient of the Ramsden/Sullivan Memorial Award, the Association's most prestigious honor for service to the American Agency System, insurance industry and community. Prior to joining IIABCal, he was Western Region counsel for the American Insurance Association, and also worked at Cassel & Abraham,  San Francisco labor law firm representing employers.

Young is the immediate past president of SigEp National Housing, LLC, and was inducted in 2025 into The Order of the Golden Heart, the highest honor conferred by the Sigma Phi Epsilon National Fraternity.

He holds a Juris Doctor Degree, as well as a Bachelor of Science Degree in Journalism, from The University of Kansas. He is a former member of the Board of Governors of the KU School of Law, and is a recipient of the James Green Medallion, for service to the School of Law. He is also a former member of the Chancellor's Club Advisory Board of the KU Endowment Association. Before going to law school, Young worked as a newspaper reporter and editor. He is licensed to practice law in Illinois and California.