California Insurance Broker Sentenced for Identity Theft

Robert Kirby Wells, 64, of Woodland, California, was sentenced this week to two years in prison for aggravated identity theft.

Court documents show Wells was an insurance broker for a company in Denver, Colorado, that owned multifamily and commercial properties throughout the U.S.

Wells was responsible for obtaining several types of coverage for the company’s properties, including umbrella liability coverage. Wells reportedly fraudulently represented to the company that he obtained umbrella coverage for properties. Wells then reportedly invoiced and was paid for purported premiums associated with the umbrella liability policies that he had never obtained.

At times, after Wells reportedly received full payment for premiums associated with coverage he obtained for the company, as well as umbrella coverage he did not obtain, Wells secured loans purportedly to pay for the same premiums. He did so by falsely representing that he was financing the premiums on the company’s behalf and using the identities of a managing principal and employee of the company without their authorization.

The case was the product of an investigation by the Federal Housing Finance Agency Office of Inspector General, the Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Thuesen prosecuted the case.

Topics California Fraud Agencies