A Louisiana man named Timothy R. Schlatre pled guilty to mail fraud and money laundering for “selling multimillion-dollar life insurance policies based on [his] applicants’ fraudulently inflated financial statements.” It appears that Schlatre worked with his clients because he paid portions of the commissions that he earned off the sales to his clients. The court record showed that several of his clients used their portion of the commission money to pay the premiums on their life insurance policies. As a result of their actions, several other people have pled guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud. While the Chief Judge on this case, Brian A. Jackson, has accepted the guilty pleas of all seven defendants, he is waiting to begin the sentencing process until he receives figures that show the specific losses that New York Life and Lincoln Financial suffered as a result of Schlatre’s scheme.
Schlatre is looking at possibly receiving 30 years in federal prison for mail fraud and money laundering. His conspirators could receive, at a maximum, 5 years in federal prison.
See Bill Lodge, Insurance Agent Pleads To Scam, The Advocate, Dec. 10, 2012.
Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.
