Florida resident arrested twice for scams

A Florida resident conspired with his wife, a licensed life and variable annuity agent, to sell life insurance policies to two unsuspecting school employees. Rather than remit the full premiums to the carriers, the couple pocketed most of the money. When one of their “clients” discovered the man was not licensed, he tipped off authorities, who conducted a sting operation. The couple was then arrested soliciting a payment of $528,000 for a phony life insurance policy from an undercover detective. After judicial proceedings, the wife’s insurance license was revoked, and the husband was barred from doing business in the state. He was also sentenced to 34 months in prison, 25 years of probation and restitution. Shortly after, he was arrested in another jurisdiction for allegedly operating as an unlicensed agent and attempting to defraud a senior citizen.

Two former California investment advisors were convicted of eight counts of fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud an undercover agent of $1 billion. According to authorities, the advisors tried to dupe the agent into believing their high-yield investment program would earn extremely high rates of return when in fact they were conspiring to steal his money. The duo claimed their program, to be managed by the Federal Reserve, involved raising funds for humanitarian work, including for Hurricane Katrina. They also claimed a Swiss banker would manage the money in offshore accounts. The advisors face 20 years in prison for each fraud count.