Former Insurance Agent Charged With Running Ponzi Scheme in California
May 15, 2017 by Marie Suszynski
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – A former licensed insurance agent in California has been arrested and charged with 19 counts of securities fraud and one count of first degree burglary in an alleged Ponzi scheme.
Pradeep Singh of Riverside, California, had his association with an insurance company terminated after regulators received complaints from seniors. He allegedly admitted he used clients’ money for personal use, according to a statement from the California Department of Insurance.
Riverside County District Attorney investigators charged Singh promised insurance and annuity clients 10% to 12% returns if they invested in ventures but allegedly used the money for personal and business expenses, along with interest on other investors to continue the scheme. He allegedly bilked money out of 14 people.
Singh’s corporation, Pradeespsingh Corp. dba Secure Vision Associates Insurance Services, filed for bankruptcy in August 2014. Creditors had loaned him and his company more than $3.7 million, but during the bankruptcy deposition, he admitted he didn’t invest the funds.
Last August, a former insurance agent in Texas was sentenced to three years in prison for running a $5 million medical investment scam. The extensive Ponzi scheme defrauded about 100 individuals, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas (Best’s News Service, April 25, 2016).
(By Marie Suszynski, BestWeek Correspondent: Marie.Suszynski@ambest.com)
