View this article online: https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2019/10/07/544783.htm
Kenneth X. Huang, 41, was sentenced last week to two years in federal prison, three years supervised release, and ordered to pay $259,594 in restitution over a reported fraud scheme involving insurance in California.
A joint investigation by the California Department of Insurance, Employment Development Department and U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service reportedly exposed a complex unemployment insurance fraud scheme involving Huang.
The restitution order included $128,753 to Great American Insurance Co., doing business as IncomeAssure, and $130,841 to the California Employment Development Department.
Huang was ordered to self-surrender by Nov. 8 to begin his federal prison term.
The investigation revealed that Huang used a false passport, Social Security card and fabricated proof of employment documents in order to obtain multiple insurance policies, each under a different name then bided his time before submitting fraudulent claims in order to meet the eligibility requirements of the policies and to escape detection. In total, he received $128,753 from his fraudulent insurance policies.
A consumer can purchase supplemental unemployment insurance to replace a portion of the income lost due to unemployment.
These policies typically require the policyholder to be employed by a company for at least six months before purchasing the policy, and the individual must maintain their employment during the first six months that they own the policy before they can collect any benefits.
According to CDI detectives, Huang lied about material information in order to secure multiple different IncomeAssure policies, under multiple different identities. Examples of Huang’s deception include providing false names, altering notarized documents, misrepresenting the times of employment, and submitting completely forged documents from companies where he never worked.
Huang fled to Georgia after being indicted on federal charges in January. DSS special agents tracked and apprehended him there.
Huang’s probation will be supervised by the United States Probation Office. The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case.