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Levon Sogomonian v. Imperial & Lloyd\'s 

https://zalma.com/blog

Since I began writing these stories in 1990 I have changed the names of  the parties to protect the guilty. This is an exception.  In 1981, Levon Sogomonian, a person who claimed to be a refugee from  Soviet Armenia purchased a homeowners policy from Imperial Casualty.  Simultaneously he purchased a Personal Articles Floater (PAF) from  Underwriters at Lloyd\\u2019s, London insuring him up to a limit of liability  in excess of $2 million for the loss of his house and its contents.  Shortly after receiving the policies, an arson fire occurred destroying  the house and its contents.  On investigation Mr. Sogomonian\\u2019s insurers proved that he had lied on  the applications for insurance to Imperial Casualty and Lloyd\\u2019s. The  Superior Court granted the insurers\\u2019 motion for summary judgment. The  Court affirmed the insurers rescission of the policies from their  inception. Mr. Sogomonian appealed, and that decision is reported as  Imperial Casualty v. Sogomonian 198 Cal.App. 3d 169, 243 Cal. Rptr. 639  (1988)  The Appellate Court, noting that the trial court failed to determine how  much money Mr. Sogomonian owed to the insurers as a result of his fraud  sent the case back down to the trial court for a determination of the  amounts owed by Mr. Sogomonian.

Judge Miriam Vogel (now justice of the Court of Appeal) tried the case  without a jury. Mr. Sogomonian contended that he should not be obligated  to repay any funds to the insurer. He claimed the insurers\\u2019 acted in  bad faith by losing the debris from the fire Sogomonian valued at  $2,000,000.  Imperial and Lloyd\\u2019s had, to protect the evidence, collected all of the  debris of the personal property destroyed in the fire and stored it at  Bekins Van & Storage. Sogomonian claimed the loss of the valuable  debris was a malicious act that should deprive the insurers of any  reimbursement.  After hearing several days of sworn testimony, Judge Vogel made the  following conclusions:  The fire at the Sogomonian residence was an arson that was probably  committed by, or at the direction of Mr. Sogomonian.  After viewing the debris at Bekins Van & Storage she concluded that  nothing was missing and, even if it was missing, the debris was  valueless.  Mr. Sogomonian was required to reimburse Imperial and Lloyd\\u2019s for all of  the money expended by them in making advance payments, making payments  to innocent mortgagees, and for attorney\\u2019s fees and costs incurred in  the declaratory relief action a sum over $500,000.  Sogomonian, however, was unwilling to acknowledge his loss. He was angry  and desired retribution. He concluded that his loss of the $2 million  he expected to make from his fraudulent insurance claim was due to the  activities of the investigators retained by Lloyd\\u2019s and Imperial, the  late Leslie M. Schifrin of Schifrin, Gagnon & Dickey, in Van Nuys,  California.  Sogomonian filed a lawsuit, in propria persona, in the Los Angeles  Superior Court naming Mr. Schifrin and his firm as defendants.  Sogomonian alleged that Mr. Schifrin had converted, lost or stolen $2  million in valuable fire debris that Judge Vogel had decided was not  lost and had no value. Mr. Schifrin hired counsel to defend himself and  his firm from this frivolous lawsuit and obtained, after spending more  than $10,000 in attorney\\u2019s fees, a judgment in his favor.