CHICAGO — A federal grand jury in Chicago has charged 23 defendants with participating in a fraud scheme through which they allegedly swindled ten life insurance carriers out of at least $26 million in fraudulent benefits.
The defendants submitted fraudulent applications to obtain life insurance policies in the names of various individuals and then induced the carriers to pay death benefits by knowingly misrepresenting the identity of a different deceased person as the insured, according to an indictment unsealed today in U.S. District Court in Chicago. The fraud scheme charged in the indictment began in 2013 and continued until last month. Among the defendants are sets of spouses and, in some cases, their children, as well as an insurance agent who owned a side business that performed medical examinations on applicants for term life insurance policies. The indictment seeks forfeiture from the defendants of at least $26 million in alleged ill-gotten gains, as well as nine luxury automobiles, eight Rolex watches, and properties in the Chicago suburbs of Orland Park, Bridgeview, and Burbank.
The indictment charges the 23 defendants with multiple counts of wire and mail fraud. Most of the defendants were arrested Thursday in Illinois and Florida and will be making initial appearances in federal courts in Chicago, Orlando, Tampa, and Miami.
The indictment and arrests were announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Emmerson...
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