In Over His Head

Johnny Brocktune Lew of Stockton, Calif., was sentenced to seven years and four months in state prison for plotting an insurance fraud scheme to sink his luxury yacht. The sentence was handed down by San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Thomas Teaford after Lew agreed to plead guilty to charges of insurance fraud and solicitation to commit a felony.

The charges stem from an investigation and arrest in October 1999 by the California Department of Insurance (CDI). According to CDI investigators, in July 1999, Lew recruited individuals he believed to be co-conspirators to sink his 56-foot yacht, Norwel, valued at $1.2 million. He allegedly offered to pay $50,000 cash to have the yacht sunk in international waters, west of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge.

According to investigators, Lew allegedly claimed the yacht was owned by “Triad,” an Asian organized crime group, and that “his people” authorized the sinking of the boat and the subsequent fraudulent claim for the loss. In addition, Lew threatened to kill anyone who leaked the scheme.

CDI investigators staged the theft of the yacht in August 1999, while Lew was traveling in China. The Norwel was secured and placed in dry dock storage. Upon his return from China, Lew paid the investigator $30,000 in cash and other valuables for the job. He contacted the Redwood City Police Department and reported the yacht stolen and then contacted his insurance company, American Yachts Ltd., and filed a fraudulent claim for the loss.

Topics Fraud