ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Financial Advisor Embezzles $8 Million From Structured Settlement Funds
Thirteen Individuals Swindled Out Of Annuity Funds
Severely Disabled Child Among Victims
Structured settlements operate essentially like annuities paying out an income stream from a fund of money set aside for that purpose. Structured settlements are often used for settlements and judgments in personal injury cases and are designed to ensure that the victim has future income for the cost of care and life’s necessities. There are opportunities for fraud when it comes to the funding of structured settlements just as there is whenever large sums of money are transferred around. The annuity litigators at Evans Law Firm, Inc. represent victims of economic fraud or financial dependent adult or elder abuse. If you are the victim of any kind of annuity or structured settlement fraud. Call us today at 415-441-8669 or toll free at (888)503-8267.
Recent Case of Structured Settlement Fraud
In one recently reported case,[1] a well-known investment advisor plead guilty to fraud and embezzlement charges when approximately $8 million was found missing from money that had been entrusted to him to set up annuities (structured settlements) for 13 people who were beneficiaries of medical malpractice settlements from government hospitals. According to court records the defendant also embezzled over $1 million that had been entrusted to him to establish a trust fund for a severely disabled child. That money is now gone and nothing is available to pay for the child’s care, court documents say.
Concealment and False Documents
According to the government, the defendant attempted to conceal his criminal activity by creating false documents and fake annuity contracts to make it look like the annuities had been established when in fact the defendant had embezzled the money for his own use. According to the U.S. Attorney, the defendant made some payments from time to time to the victims falsely claiming that the payments came from annuities when, in fact, the payments were only made to conceal the fact that no annuities had ever been purchased. The fraudulent scheme ran for four years, according to the government, by using fake contracts, “lies, misdirection and stall tactics” until the scheme was ultimately uncovered. Defendant has been sentenced to 70 months in prison and ordered to pay over $9 million in restitution to the victims.
Contact Us
If you have been the victim of any kind of financial fraud, including in the creation and administration of structured settlements or annuities, Ingrid M. Evans and the other Evans Law Firm financial elder abuse, annuity and life insurance attorneys can represent you. Call us today at (415) 441-8669 or toll free at (888)503-8267, or by email at <a href=”mailto:info@evanslaw.com”>info@evanslaw.com</a>. The Evans Law Firm litigators know how to pursue all remedies available to victims of these kinds of financial fraud schemes.
[1] Evans Law Firm, Inc. was not involved in the case in any way.
