Ep 07: COVID PPP Scams, a Fraudulent Agency & Infinite Banking

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Welcome to Fraud Facts and Life Insurance with Agent Verified, the podcast that dives into the wild world of life insurance gone wrong. Every week, we peel back the curtain on real cases of financial chaos and help you spot the red flag before it's too late. We'll share what went wrong, why it happened, and how to protect yourself by working with the right agent. Hey, let's face it. These stories might have ended very differently if only they'd used agentverified.com hey.

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Hey, everybody. It is Betsy and Spencer with Fraud Facts and Life Insurance with Agent Verified. And we have got some stories for you today, so let's hop right in. We ended last week with that last one with that cliffhanger where it said his life insurance license was terminated. So let's see what happens next. All right, here we go.

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Verified.Com Seneca Birchmore, a Cincinnati resident, has been sentenced after pleading guilty to aggravated identity theft and fraudulently obtaining two COVID 19 Paycheck Protection Program PPP loans. Birchmore was ordered to pay nearly $147,000 in restitution in 2019. He lost his insurance license for writing unauthorized policies to collect commissions. Afterward, he stole the identities of two agents to write fraudulent life insurance policies for customers who request them. The commissions, totaling over $100,000, were deposited into his accounts. Many victims, including senior citizens from Dayton, Inglewood, Middletown, and Cincinnati, reported automatic withdrawals for policies they never ordered. In addition, Birchmore fraudulently obtained two PPP loans worth over $40,000 by falsely claiming ownership of a business and reported $13 million in income. For 2019, no such business existed. Birchmore was arrested in June 2022 and pleaded guilty in January 2023.

The moral of the story is you should always make sure that your life insurance agent is verified on agent verified.com if you need a life insurance agent, choose from thousands of agents and brokers by ww.agentverified.com agent verified. Licensed, insured verified.

Wow. I mean, this doesn't get wow.

And we're back to the PPP loads. I feel like we had a lot of those at the beginning of of the season, like you people, people being fraudulent agents and then trying to defraud the government too, with the p. Not.

Trying like, well, I guess they did.

But I mean, then they got caught, which is good, but golly, like, lost his license. Then he goes and writes fraudulent policies under somebody else.

Under somebody else's name. I mean. All right, one more time, Betsy.

Okay, let's let's take from Senica Birchmore. A Cincinnati resident has been sentenced after pleading guilty to aggravated identity theft and fraudulently obtaining two COVID 19 Paycheck Protection Program PPP loans. Birchmore was ordered to pay nearly $147,000 in restitution in 2019. He lost his insurance license for writing unauthorized policies.

So, like, so, okay, kudos to the industry. He already lost his license. Thank goodness they already detected it. Right?

Hey, take him out of there. You're gone.

And he says, persistency is my middle.

Name, except not with taking care of clients. Actually taking care of myself and defrauding clients. Okay, Great job, man. Great job. Not. This is.

This is bad. And then you put the other two agents in jeopardy for their livelihood, because who's going to. Really?

You mean he's gonna trust. He's gonna be able to trust them after that? After your license has been. Identity theft.

He stole the identities of two agents to write fraudulent life insurance policies for customers who didn't request them. The commissions totaling over $100,000 were deposited into his accounts.

So they didn't even get anything.

Okay, they didn't even get. Yeah, they didn't even get anything.

They literally did. You ever watch the Office?

No.

Identity theft is a real thing, Jim. So it's a real problem. But it is a real problem. Like, now he's riding under these agents, and then he's getting his commissions deposited. Their commissions deposited into his account. Like, this is just bad overall for those two agents because now probably all their commissions from that, those companies are also going to his account. So, like.

And then they're paying the taxes. There's. Oh, my goodness. That's bad.

That's awful.

Many victims, including senior citizens from Dayton.

Yeah, seniors. All right. And then the crazy part was, he has it coming out of their bank account. Betsy, there's a lot of demographics in this country, but let me just tell you, I don't know many seniors that's going to have and let a unauthorized charge come out of their account without.

Being like, where's this money going? And, I mean, that's probably why I got stopped. Because they're like, absolutely not. You know, or their family members that are checking up on them. Like, hey, why are you getting this deposit being pulled out constantly? So stay on top of your bank account. Like, if you're seeing a charge that shouldn't be there, don't just let it. Don't just let it go by. I know you do that all the time. Oh, yeah, there's a $2.

You know it. I know usually my threshold is a hundred dollars. Anything under anything over a hundred dollars and I'm lost at. We're having a conversation and we're calling that company and we're going to the bank under a hundred. I'm gonna just charge it to. My time's a little bit more valuable than that.

They have the reported automatic withdrawals for policies they never ordered. In addition, Birchmore fraudulently obtained two PPP loans worth over $40,000 by falsely claiming ownership of a business and reporting over $13 million in income for 2019. No such business existed.

Like, I mean if you're gonna, if you're gonna go big or go home, he's like, I'm not going home. I'm just going big. Like how do you go from non existent to $13 million?

No such business existed. Okay, okay. But yet somehow 13 million was generated.

Moore was arrested in June 2022 and pleaded guilty in January 2023.

The moral of the story is you should tell the story is always use agent.

Is it verified? Yeah.

Wow.

Yeah. He would have never been able to redo his license. It was terminated. We would have never been able to re. Yeah, that's. Wow. Wow. All right. Got that out of system. But I wish that. But I didn't see any jail time. So you know, he has to pay the money back and out the industry. But that doesn't even always stop him.

So apparently that doesn't mean anything for some people coming out. That's awful. Buying life insurance is a big deal. You're protecting your family, your home, your future. But here's the truth. Not all agents are created equal. That's why smart shoppers use agent verified. We screen and verify life insurance agents so you can trust the person who's working with you. Background check licensed legit. Before you buy, verify@agentverify.com agent verified. Because your trust should be earned. Oh well, let's think about some more pleasant things. Let's. Let's talk about what's going on.

Yeah. What are you. Yeah, what are you guys working on out there?

Let's see, I've got. Well, I've got some agents that joined the agency spends that have moved from. There were agents before this and so we kind of got connected through some advanced market conversations. And anyways they decided to come on and join the bar agency with the Aloha program and all the Aloha spirit that we have going over here. But so they were able to help some families with some infinite banking policies. So they were getting all fancy. They were getting all fancy this week.

What's infinite banking? You know, a lot of our listeners are not licensed insurance agents. They're.

Yeah. Oh, yeah. So infinite banking is where you actually use. So the way I like to call it, the way I like to explain it to my clients is that it's like a savings account on steroids. All right? That's what it is. So you've got your life insurance policy, but we have, we have some, you know, really wealthy people that lobbied the government to say, hey, as long as I have an insurance policy, I don't have to be taxed, right? And the government and Uncle Sam's like, yeah, that's fine. As long as you have a life insurance policy, you don't have to be taxed. So then they got a little, you know, they decided to have a little fun with it, right? And say, okay, well, hey, what if, what if the money, though, that I put in this life insurance policy, what if it could grow and have, like, compounding interest? So Uncle Sam says, okay, well, as long as it's a life insurance policy. So is it? How much money can grow? So then the government, IRS says, all right, as long as there's enough life insurance for it to legitimately be a life insurance policy, and the ratio between the cash that's growing exponentially and the life insurance, as long as that is in balance, you can have money in a life insurance policy. It can grow, it can be completely tax free. As soon as it goes over, as soon as there's more cash than life insurance, okay? Now you got to start paying taxes on it. So that's kind of the type of policy, all right? And so we use it for. So we decided, hey, maybe not only the super wealthy people can use it because they're. The banks are using it. The, you know, corporations are using it. Super wealthy families that have that generational wealth, they're using it. And so, like, hey, why can't just like normal, regular Americans use it? You know, maybe I don't have 50,000amonth, but what if I've got 200 or 500amonth that I want to help save for my family, Right? So, yeah, so we got to work with some families this week that wanted to have that same savings account on steroids. So they're putting it into this policy, and now it's turning into that infinite bank, or it's basically a bank account that's not like at a bank, but it's that their family personally holds. And so they can Put money into it, the money grows. They're able to access that money while it's still growing. It's, it's pretty awesome the way that it all works together. But so getting them, getting a couple of, got two agents, they each got about two or three families this week set up with those infinite banks. Because you know, when you're talking to families and you see like, hey, yes, we need the life insurance. We also are wanting to, you know, build savings for our family. We're also wanting to make sure there's enough for retirement. And so when you've got someone that wants to do a lot of things, we put together, you know, a more intricate plan and a lot of times infinite banking is, is a part of that. And so it was exciting to see those get in place. I love playing with those illustrations. So we met and kind of talked it through and you know, just seeing how that's all going to pan out and getting that started for the family is, it's pretty awesome.

So no for sure.

And I mean I know we both use it in our businesses. Like it's not just, you don't have to just use it right for, for like personal use. I have one for every single one of my businesses and that's what I use to like, you know, put, put aside so I've got enough for taxes or you know, put aside so there's enough for payroll or you know, a rainy day fund, all that type of stuff. And I know that I'm always earning interest in there. And so it's, it's. My money's working for me more than if I was to put it like in a bank somewhere. Imagine building a new career with a breeze in your hair and purpose in your heart. At the Aloha Program, we help people like you create income freedom and impact without clocking into a cubicle. Live where you love, work with meaning help families all over the country as a virtual life insurance agent. Make the switch to something that fits your lifestyle. Apply now at www.thealoha program.com the Aloha Program. Work life in balance.

Yeah, I like definitely had hours for going on five years now, five, six years now. Definitely for the businesses to be able to not just let money sit in the bank account, earn interest on it while the before the banks do. So when I do those policies I find myself, you know, it's really cool bits that maybe one of our listeners doing it for real estate investors because, because they're used to just needing the money. So imagine I did it for A couple real estate investors, that money just sit in the bank. Well then they start throwing it into their policy and then they become the hard money lender. So now someone asks them to borrow from 40, 50,000, they charge them something crazy for interest. But even when the money's out the policy, they're still earning interest as if it's sitting in the policy. So they're getting simple interest from the flip that they became the hard money lender on, which is I'm sure is crazy profitable. And then they're making money on the policy. So it's not just sitting in side Wells Fargo or Regions or Chase is now in the policy. And then Lord forbid, if anything happens to them, their family's protected with a pretty good size death benefit life insurance.

It's pretty awesome. I know when we work with real estate investors, we, it ends up with like the real estate investors. For every door they own, they have a policy like this because then they have one that's connected for, for each. I mean it, it gets pretty fun when you, when there's not enough time to go into it now, but it gets pre fun when we start going into these, into these types of policies. And you know, so like I said, lots of different things that we can offer. You've heard us talk about different types of life insurance here. And so no one is better than the other, right? It's all about like, hey, what is your particular need? What's, what's going to work best for your, your situation, your family, your business. And so you know what, what our agents do, what we do is just put together a plan that, hey, this is going to be the best fit for you. So I love it. It's like getting to solve puzzles every single day.

For sure, for sure. Well, all right, let's see who solved the next puzzle. We gotta think, let's, let's see who the who the who the Fed solved this next puzzle on. All right, let's get to it. Next frauder coming right up.

New by agentverified.com Francis Okier, a former insurance agent from Westlake Village, was sentenced to two years in county jail and ordered to pay full restitution after pleading no contest to 17 felony counts of identity theft and grand theft by false pretenses. An investigation by the Department of Insurance revealed that Bokier stole multiple victims identities and to open a fraudulent insurance agency, Cyber Access Insurance. He also used these identities to secure over $38,000 in small business loans, including funds from the paycheck protection program. The investigation began After a complaint from one of OK's ex relatives and further inquiry confirmed the theft of identities from four victims in 2019, his license was revoked after he was convicted of stealing over $65,000 in insurance premiums from small business owners. The case was prosecuted by the Health Care fraud division of the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

The moral of the story is you should always make sure that your life insurance agent is verified on agentverified.com if you need a life insurance agent, choose from thousands of agents and brokers by visiting ww.agentverified.com agent verified, licensed, insured, verified, petsi.

The only fingerprinting I ever done was to get my insurance license. But I've heard stories that county jail, two years of county jail is. Wow, that's. I think he hopefully learned this lesson, so.

Oh, my goodness. All right. There's a lot to dig into here, man.

Yeah, red flags.

Let's. Let's go. Lots of red flags. Lots of red flags. All right, let's. Let's put.

Okier, a former insurance agent from Westlake Village, was sentenced to two years in county jail and ordered to pay full restitution after pleading no contest to 17 felony counts of identity theft and grand theft by false pretenses.

Okay. No contest. Pleading guilty. Like, yeah, he's just saying, okay, whatever. I'm not going to admit guilt. I'm not going to fight you.

So that means he might be extra guilty. Like, right. He doesn't.

He don't want them uncovering anything else.

Yeah.

Oh, 17 counts.

That's literally a week worth of work that you could have done the right way.

And then if you're not a great agent, a month's work.

A month's worth of work without the two years vacation without a tan. Like, that's crazy.

That's not a vacation. That would not be fun.

An investigation by the Department of Insurance revealed that Okier stole multiple victims identities to open a fraudulent insurance agency. Cyber.

Okay, that floored me. He didn't just get his own fraudulent license. He opened a whole agent agency.

That's crazy.

Who does that? Like, how do you even think. All right, I'm not just going to pretend to be a fraud. Pretend to be an agent. No, I'm going to create a whole agency. Like what? Absolutely no. Like just. Just so much. No. In all of this right here. Oh, my goodness.

Cyber access Insurance. He also used these identities to secure over $38,000 in small business loans, including funds from the Pay protection program.

So he adds these people to his.

Agency just to get. Just to get government. Fake government. Just to do fake. I don't even. Betsy, go ahead.

What are you trying just to like. Okay. Now he's got all these agents that he can use to write fraudulent business and he's now getting fraudulent loans. Like. Like this is just like a whole. This is beyond just. Okay, I'm doing this for myself. Or I've gotten one or two other lies written in their fraudulent licenses.

It was so big. It gotta be web.

This is a web of lies. That's what it is. It's a web of lies.

The investigation began after a complaint from one of okres ex relatives.

Yep. So ex relative means somebody got out of grace with the family. You know what? I know somebody that's got a little fake online business going on here. Wow.

Right? Well. And that makes me wonder, was he using that identity?

Right.

Surely not. Surely they would. But who knows. But yeah, I noticed that the ex relative.

The ex relative.

That said a lot. That said a lot.

Confirmed the theft of identities from four victims.

Oh.

In 2019 his license was revoked after he was convicted of stealing over $65,000 in insurance premiums from small business owners. So this is case was prosecuted by the.

Again, something else. Like they department. The department did their job. Like he was kicked out of the industry.

That's right. And then let's say he, you know, why do we keep talking about Agent Verified if he's kicked out? If he doesn't have a license, guess what? He won't be on Agent verify. He won't be out there defrauding you. If you're using agent verified to make sure that you're like that, your agent is who they say they are.

Health care fraud division of the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office.

The moral of the story.

Wow.

Oh my word. That.

Yeah.

That was insane. So that's an example of a not so great agency right there. Spencer. Tell us about. Let's. Let's hear something. Let's hear some good news. We need we did something positive after that. Tell us about your agency this week, please.

Hey, if you're tired of clocking in, getting underpaid or just want want more control of your time and income, we're hiring At Spencer Financial Group. We train everyday people to earn real money helping families with life insurance from home on your schedule and with leads provided. No cold calling, no chasing family and friends. Just real support and a clear path to Success. Go to www.thethespencerfinancialgroup.com and see what we're about. Let's build something real, man. Betsy, I can tell you I had a proud moment this week.

Okay, wait, I do have, I have a very important question. Are all of your agents real?

Yes.

Perfect. Okay, let's continue then.

Yes, 100% real.

So.

So we had a local meeting. One of my agents came in and Betsy, we were, we go to this, we go to these meetings every quarter or so. I remember last quarter he was just back of the room just kind of listening and you know, we don't try to be the end all, be all because we know people are motivated by others outside of us. Even though it's my agency but. And the person that he was motivated by, I, I literally feel like I can see it click for him.

Oh really?

And then he went to go talk to them. I got, I feel like maybe I said how my head is in the movie, but I feel like I saw it click form. And he's like, he made the decision that he's going to just follow the system. He's going to, you know, he. But Betsy's been here going on four or five years. He's been to conferences. It's not a new agent. He's been in conferences. People come and go. Yes, right. And oh wow. And then I put him in. I was very reluctant to put any licensed agent that I did not that already knew me and to take flight because I was like man their schedule, right? Once you get a piece of a non structured way of doing business, I don't want to be the, the warden to tell you where are you. Like it's just better to deal with brand new people into the system. So. But he shows up and Betsy, this meeting, he knows the value. Like we watched him come in, you know, inconsistent with lead flow. You know, not necessarily all the training right there that he was forced to go to versus like I'll get to it, Betsy. This week he was on the producers panel. He was one of the top producers in the room. I was hosted and it was like. And just his posture, right? It was no more like always on the.

No more back of the room.

No more back of the room. You know, now having people recognize him like, oh, I remember I saw your name and you could just see that, like that, that village, right? And I was like, man, like. And now he's building his organization and building his agency and we were talking about his goals. Really, really sharp guy, passionate. Shared his why. But it was so, you know, we always talk about others, right? We know what this business do to us. But to now be in the picture and the picture frame of what it's doing to someone else that didn't give up on themselves, it's like very, very, very humbling to see. So that's what we got going on on our side of the house.

That is pretty awesome. Don't. I just, I love seeing, I love seeing the growth. I mean, we just, we've got such a special opportunity here and in our agencies and it's like if you want to come in and grab a hold of it, like, come on, the water's fine. Like, there's so much, there's so much freedom here when you, when you come in and put in the work and like, what it can do for your family is just can't.

It's crazy. We can't do the work for you. We just can show you how to get done. So. Awesome. Awesome.

All right, well, let's finish it off today. We got one last story for you. We're gonna leave you hanging though, and so we'll see you next week to see the rest of it, See what we got.

This is brought to you by agentverified.com.

Gautam Aurora of Tustin was arrested today on 11 felony counts related to security violations and money laundering after allegedly defrauding four victims of $100,000. Through non existent investments between 2018 and 2019, Aurora, a licensed insurance agent, recruited individuals into a multi level marketing scheme.

Jesus. Jeez. Oh my goodness.

He deposited their.

Oh, I'm getting so into it.

Yes. Oh, we gotta give. We will definitely be starting. I want to know too. We gotta wait. I definitely gotta hold on till next episode.

But guys, yes, that's just no red flag. So many red. Yeah, we put like flag on the plate. Flag on the plate. Okay, that will definitely be a flag on the plate. But guys, thanks for joining us for this episode of Fraud facts and life insurance with agent verified. Be sure that you're checking out your agents on agent verified and we'll see you next time. Bye.

Have a good one. Peace.

Thanks for listening to Fraud facts and life Insurance with agent Verified. If this episode made you double check your policy or your agent, head over to agentverified.com to find someone you can trust. We'll be back next week with more fraud stories, facts and ways to protect what matters most. So stay smart, stay safe, and always verify your life insurance agent.