Federal Jury Convicts Former Texas Insurance Agent in Fraud Case

July 23, 2013

A former Denton County, Texas, insurance agent has been convicted in an insurance fraud scheme that targeted elderly individuals, U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldana of the Northern District of Texas announced.

A federal jury in Dallas convicted Vincent Bazemore, 39, formerly of Aubrey, Texas, on all counts of an indictment charging four counts of mail fraud related to a scheme he ran to defraud various life insurance companies following a three-day trial before U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor.

Bazemore is currently in federal custody, serving a five-year sentence on a federal securities fraud conviction in the district in 2009. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and restitution on each of the four counts of conviction.

The Texas Department of Insurance revoked Bazemore’s life, health and accident insurance license in October 2008.

Bazemore was found to have committed the offenses while he was pre-trial release on the securities fraud case. Subsequently he is subject to an additional 10 years imprisonment to run consecutive to any sentence that he may receive on any of the mail fraud counts.

Sentencing is set for Dece.12, 2013, before Judge O’Connor.

The government presented evidence at trial that between October 2007 and April 2009, Bazemore, an insurance agent, obtained substantial commissions by inducing life insurance companies to issue policies on applications of mostly elderly individuals who appeared to be wealthy and seeking insurance for estate planning purposes, when in fact, the applicants were of modest financial means. The policies were intended to be transferred to investors.

Bazemore prepared applications and related documents on behalf of the applicants that contained forged signatures and falsified financial information to induce the life insurance companies into issuing the policies, according to the federal attorney’s office.

Agreements Bazemore had with insurance companies and managing agents provided that he would receive, for each policy issued on an application he submitted, a commission of 95 to 105 percent of the first year’s premium paid on the policy, federal officials said.

The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Stokes and P.J. Meitl.

Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas

Topics USA Texas Fraud Agencies

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