Amount: $4.4 Million

This week a Baltimore man admitted to fraudulently collecting over $4.4 million in insurance premiums which were not paid forward to an insurance company, causing significant losses to individuals who thought they were insured. The defendant began collecting premiums and providing insurance policies when he was employed as a partner at a firm called TriArch Financial Services, a multinational property and casualty insurance company. His firm provided automotive and mortgage insurance products including residual value insurance (RVI) which is a type of insurance that helps companies that lease vehicles to consumers to manage the risk from decreases in vehicle value throughout the duration of the lease. The defendant specialized in brokering RVI products. While a partner of the firm, the defendant persuaded businesses to purchase RVI coverage that did not exist, and used the premium money for personal gain. In 2009 the defendant created a corporation called TriArch Marketing Solutions, opened bank accounts for the fraudulent corporation, and lead “insureds” to believe that he was licensed to issue RVI policies on behalf of TriArch Financial Services. He also hid the creation of TriArch Marketing Solutions from his partners at TriArch Financial Services. He created and sent false insurance documents, fraudulent emails, invoices, declarations, lists, causing victims to believe that they had purchased insurance through TriArch Solutions. Over $4.4 million was collected as a result of this fraud, and over $3.3 Million was not reported to the IRS causing significant tax losses to the United States. The man agreed to a plea agreement, and will be required to forfeit all property obtained from the fraud, including the $4.4 million.