A life insurance agent in Baton Rouge has been charged with three counts of fraud after he purportedly accrued commissions through the sale of exaggerated policies to unsuspecting applicants. The insurance rip-off revolves around asset forfeiture, money laundering and mail deception.
Timothy R. Schlatre now faces a possible imprisonment of not less than 30 years after the local attorney’s office found him guilty of committing the offence. Donald J. Cazayoux, who was the presiding attorney for the case, claimed that the accused entered into a conspiracy with six individuals in March last year to execute the deal which saw them make false claims for what they were not entitled to.
As part of their plan, the court heard, Schlatre compelled on the six individuals to come up with inflated figures of their monthly income and value of their total assets to authenticate their plan. On his part, the accused agent funded the six with cash to clear all their premiums, the action that went against the laid down rules and regulations of the local insurance industry. The attorney in his ruling said that Schlatre was wrong to deposit the money to the bank accounts of the six culprits since it was all meant to insinuate that a payment had been done.
The court found out that through his actions, Schlatre defrauded New York Life and Lincoln Insurance Company of more than $100 million which neither he or the co-accused were entitled to get. This attracted a fine of approximately $500, 000 or an alternative of suffering twice the loss he inflicted to the company. In addition to that, the court ruled that Schlatre may have to lose his vehicle which he unlawfully bought in 2007.
If convicted, the attorney is expected to claim full compensation for the insurance company from Schlatre as well as reimbursement for the damage caused by his actions. In their presentation during the hearing, the company claimed that it had suffered heavy losses since it had to make false payments in terms of commissions to Schlatre and his confidants. The insurer’s spokesman William Werfelman further noted that they fully cooperated with law enforcers by giving them all the details they wanted in their efforts to unearth the truth behind the scam and were more than happy that the truth finally prevailed.
The company has already terminated the employment of Schlatre and his contract revoked which effectively means he cannot represent them in any transactions.
