California authorities have charged Marcus David Johnson II with 10 felony counts, including identity theft, grand theft, forgery, and computer fraud. Mr. Johnson allegedly submitted more than 100 fraudulent insurance policies using stolen and fictitious identities to scam insurers out of thousands in commissions he did not earn.

“Johnson's alleged crimes are an example of why insurance fraud is not a victimless crime,” said California's insurance commissioner, Dave Jones. “Johnson took advantage of people who trusted him, including his family and friends, to line his pockets with ill-gotten gains.”

According to the charges, while holding a valid insurance agent license, Mr. Johnson created 36 fraudulent policyholders by stealing the identities of friends and acquaintances in order to write group health benefit policies under his parents' business name. Prosecutors said that they discovered the alleged fraud when a friend of Mr. Johnson was contacted by the insurance company revealing there were multiple policies issued to him. The government said that he immediately notified the company he had never enrolled for any of the policies, which led the insurer to refer the case to the Department of Insurance for investigation.