Ep 13: $500K Betrayal & The Truth About Mortgage Insurance

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 use agentverified.com. hey. Hey. Welcome back to Fraud Facts and Life Insurance with Agent Verified. Siobhan Spencer here with Ms. Betsy Barr. Let's do this.

Hey, hey, everybody. We are excited to be back with you sharing some stuff.

And I just hope this one, I, I, I hope this one I want prison time. I, we left off with guilty. I want prison time.

I think there is, so let's just go ahead and find out. But I'm, I'm pretty sure this one because that one last time. Nope. I mean, it was, I mean, not only it was like he had to pay back the 10,000, but yeah, 10,000. That was just frustrating because like, like how embarrassing as an agent, like if that's what you. Because you can literally, that's just, that's just stupidity. That's laziness and stupidity. All right, here we go. Let's see. All right. Oh, we can already see it from the title. It's gonna be good.

A former insurance agent and treasurer for.

The Greater Lavernia Chamber of Commerce, guilty.

Today to stealing more than a half a million dollars from her clients and the Chamber, Patsy Richie was sentenced to 28 years in prison Under a plea deal with the Wilson county District Attorney. The 19's Tim Gerber sat down with one of Richie's longest friends, who was also one of her many victims.

And I had been a friend for over 30 years. We raised our children together. We celebrated many birthdays and Christmas together.

Boudreaux thought she knew everything there was to know about Patsy Richie until she received a disturbing call in April 2013.

I was told that there's some stuff that was going down and that I needed to get a hold of Patsy because they thought that maybe some money that we had invested was no longer there.

Boudreaux and her husband gave Richie more than $10,000 to purchase an annuity through her Farmers Insurance agency in Lavernia. She had also convinced an aunt and her mother to invest with Richie for a combined $240,000. With allegations swirling that Richie was under investigation, Boudreaux called her friend and Was shocked when she admitted it was all true.

When I found out that my mother's $180,000 was gone, I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I thought I was going to go crazy.

Sixteen months later, Boudreaux and other victims faced Richie in court for the first time this morning.

She did look at me and tell me she was sorry. But she was smiling sometimes and that really bothered me. So I asked some of the other victims that was there. I said, do you think she's remorseful? U.S. victims? No.

Boudreaux still coming to terms with her friend's betrayal, but hopes to one day find forgiveness.

Will I forget this? No. No. And in order for me to move on, I have to, I have to forgive her. And the good Lord will help you.

Now.

Richie pled guilty to stealing about $510,000 in money. But it's expected. Some sources say that she stole upwards of $2 million from her clients. While today's plea deal and sentencing ends the criminal case against Ritchie, it does not end the financial nightmare for many of her victims. The Boudreaux have sued Richie and Farmers Financial Solutions in an effort to recoup the money that they lost plus damages. Richie will be eligible for parole after serving a minimum of five years of that 28 year sentence that was handed down today. We're live downtown. Tim Gerber, KSAT 12 News.

Wow. Wow. That's got me like.

Because most fraud stories, we really don't see the victims like that. Wow. You know, but. Wow. And, and I don't know if it was that photographer. Every photo of her just smiling just irritated the living mess out of me. Oh, he was smiling.

But man, that victim got me. She was crying. She was trying to forgive. I mean, you know, like I, I agree you have to be able to forgive to move on, but how. That was her friend. She, she brought her mom and her aunt and they found out 500,000. But did you hear him say it was going to be. She admitted to that, but it looks like it was upwards of 2 million. Oh my goodness. And these are, these are real people that trusted her. My heart was going out. I'm not gonna lie. That, that got me seeing her crying and those. She was, oh, just like rubbing her hands together like you can tell. This is. What about when she said her mom lost over a hundred thousand dollars.

Her mom. And she looked up there in age herself and that's her mom like.

And now she's gonna have to be taking, probably taking care of her mom because what do you do when you.

And what do you. And what do you do if you introduced her to the robbers? You just feel indebted completely. Like, you have to take care of her because that money was supposed to take care of her. Probably worked her whole life to save that money.

And then that lady was just sitting there smiling.

Smirk.

That. That's it. It was a smirk like, I got it and then sent. Oh, and also, okay, I'm not going to lie.

The.

You know, it kind of rubbed me the wrong way here. Javon is 28 years in prison, but she's going to be eligible for parole after 5.

5. And it's not like it's a violent case. So you pretty much know she'll get parole in five years.

And if she did all this over, like, a long period of time, you know, she's able to put on an act.

Yeah.

And so she can. Oh, man. That's. That's all. Hey, did you also notice that she wasn't just a life insurance agent, she was also the treasurer for the Chamber of commerce. So she was. She was just skimming in all kinds of places.

And highly trusted. Like, highly. Like, wow, guys, get on Agent verified. Check out the reviews. Like, check out agent reviews before.

How can people. Right? So let's. Let's get real. How can people protect themselves from. From cases like this? You know, like what. What can. This is why we have this podcast. How can we prevent this from happening to one of our listeners?

Because we foremost. That annuity should. Would have had paperwork as soon as that money.

Absolutely.

Like, not just, oh, you're my friend. Hey, what's the paperwork? Can I call the company? Let's give them my policy number. What do you see? Who do you have as my beneficiary? Perfect. Perfect. That's what I have here. Right? It's not going to take a criminal investigation to verify. Hey, where's the paperwork? I see it, you know, I see it in my hand. Let's call the 1-800number, not the agent. Let's call the 1,800number. Speak to customer service. Make sure you have me, you know, squared away in your system.

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@agentverified.com agent verified. Because your trust should be earned. You know, I mean, I think about. I think about Javon, my friends and my family members that I've written policies for, whether it's annuities, life insurance. We always do that. Because I don't want there to be. I don't want there to be even a hint of worry in their mind, you know, And I think one of the great things is, did you see that post it note that they. That. That thing that they had on the door where it said, please send payment. It. We're no longer open. Please send payment around to the other entrance. And I was like, whoa, that's a little sketch. Like, why would you be paying. Why wouldn't you be just directly paying the insurance carrier? And so I know. I feel like we've said that before a lot on this podcast with some other cases, too. But I just want to reiterate, if you're not paying the carrier directly, the insurance company directly stopped. That's a red flag. We still need those little red flags. But, like, stop. That is a major red flag. Like, you should only be sending money directly, directly to that carrier. And all of your paperwork should be coming from the carrier, not from the agent. And, like, you can. You can look and see, okay, hey, where is their location? It should be coming from there. All of that stuff is what's going to help protect you. And again, I know we keep saying go to agent verified. Look at their reviews, look at the companies that they're contracted with. That would also be a big red flag, right? Like, if they're trying to set you up, you know, with. With a. With a company that doesn't even exist, like, that would be a red flag. So just use Agent Verify. That's why it's there to help protect you, the. The customer, so that your money is protected. Your parents, money is protected. Your aunts, your family, your friends. That's our heart here, is we want to make sure that you're taken care of. Because if you worked all your life for this money, you don't have to worry about where it's going. And if someone's defrauding you, that's not worth it. Cool. That one got me, Javon. Oh, that got me all in my feels. That's awful, man.

What have you guys been working on this week?

Yeah, let's. Let's talk about something a little more positive. So a lot of the bread and butter of what agencies have done kind of for so many years in life insurance is mortgage protection. I know when I first came in, that's really all that I, that I worked for for a couple, for a year or so. And so you might be thinking, hey, what is mortgage protection? Don't I get that with my, with my bank when I get set up with a mortgage? And this is where a lot of people, I'm sure you know, Javon, they don't, they don't know that the, the insurance that you get when you get set up with a mortgage, that is not for you. That's for the, that's where the mortgage company. Right. Like, that's for them to make sure that they're protected. It's not.

Let's dive in deeper. That real quick, Betsy. Like, okay, when I was in real estate, you know, that payment, that pmi, you know, it's design. Most people don't realize that it's designed for you. You add that PMI on because you did not put down a full 20%, right? So the government saying, hey, you give us three and a half percent and we're going to tack on this other. We're going to subsidize the other percentage inside your payment. Now, what is that money designed for? It's designed to remarket the property when you default. Let that resonate.

You're saying it's not there to protect family that's living in the home.

The percentage of people that default on the 3%. Because truthfully, conventional. Right. Conventional is 20%. When they don't put down the 20%, they're saying there's a pretty good chance this person is going to default on this loan.

Unfortunately, yes.

And how do I remarket it? What is that? I'm going to take a loss. Got to come in, got to paint, got to come in, do a short sale. I got to have foreclose. I got to do all this stuff to this home. Where's that money going to come from? You already defaulted. So while you're up and happy and for those few years, they're putting money away in a little kitty left every month. You're putting money into a kitty and people hear the word. People? Yeah, people hear the word insurance and think that's for them. No, it is for the bank. It's for the next family, and you're paying it. And if you're like me, who I have pmi. And it's used to. It used to be after your home gets under 80% of equity, as long as you, you know that 20%, it falls off. It does not anymore. It stays on the entire mortgage on some instances until you refinance it. And then it's like now you're dealing with a whole other.

You got to go. That's all. So, yeah. So thanks, Ramon, for clarifying that. Because what we, what I really want to make sure everyone listening understands is that PMI insurance is not for you. It's not for you. It's protecting the bank. And so when we talk about mortgage protection, the mortgage protection is there to protect your mortgage, your family. If something happens to you and you can't pay the mortgage. That's what it's there for. Need extra income, but don't want another dead end side gig. The Aloha program lets you earn from home, on your time with real support and real results as a virtual life insurance agent. No fluff, just training leads and a system that works, ready to boost your income the smart way. Apply now at www.thealoha program program.com the Aloha Program. Make more matter more. So think about, like, if, if, you know, if you're in a household where there's only one breadwinner or that maybe there's two breadwinners, what happens if all of a sudden that person can't work? Now, you know, it could be because there's a death, right? It could be like, okay, hey, this person passes away, whether it's an accident or, you know, something that they, you know, old age or sickness and illness, or it could be, oh, my gosh, this, this person had a stroke, husband or wife, mom or dad had a stroke, mom or dad had cancer, and now they can't go into work. Mom or dad had a heart attack. Now they have to back off on their hours. So it's anything to where, hey, this is going to hinder that family's ability to pay the mortgage. All right? And so mortgage protection is put in place to protect the family and their ability to pay the mortgage. And so a lot of times when we go and talk to families, they're thinking, oh man, I got to be able to have mortgage protection that's going to cover the entire mortgage so I can pay everything off. But here's the thing. I mean, Javon, when, you know, if something were to happen to you, right? Okay, God forbid something happens to you. And now Bridget has got a, you know, the banks, the bank comes the next month. Are they going to ask Bridget, all right, you got to pay off the whole mortgage? No, they're just gonna say, bridget, where's that, where's that payment? Where's that next payment? Where's that next payment? That's all they're looking for each month. And so the mortgage protection is there, guys, to make sure that whatever happens, whether there's a death or an illness, that your family is able to stay in your home. Your kids don't have to move. They don't have to move to a new school district. So in the midst of all this tragedy and grief and realignment of your family's whole life, you don't have to be adding in a move on top.

Of all of that.

So one thing I love about the mortgage protection, Javon, which not. Not a ton of agents do, unfortunately, is we also have what's called a mortgage payment plan. So, sure, if for people that are young enough and maybe they've got it in the budget, we can't. We can always look at paying off the full mortgage if that's. If that's what a family truly wants and it's going to be the best thing for them. But most of the time, we look at the mortgage payment where we're going to say, hey, how many years of payment do you want? Or how many months of payment? Sometimes a family's like, hey, you know what? We would actually sell the home if, you know, if my husband passed, we would sell this home. You know, especially if it's an older couple, maybe they wouldn't want to keep up with a full house. Or, hey, I just. I want two years. That's going to give me time to grieve. That'll give time for my kids to graduate and. Or maybe five years. My kids would all be graduated. They wouldn't have to move schools, and then I could downsize. So the. Well, what I wanted to share is a lot of my agents have been helping people who've been so happy to realize, oh, I don't have to be able to get $350,000 worth of. Of coverage. Like, all I need is two years worth of mortgage payments. All I need is five years worth of mortgage payments. The great thing that's so much more budget friendly, it really fits into to what they kind of what they're able to fit in comfortably into their budget, and they don't have to worry about, you know, the refrigerator breaking and not. Not keeping the coverage and protection. So, yeah, that's what we've been working on in our agency, just making sure everyone truly understands that mortgage payment option for when they're talking with families. And it's. It's just phenomenal how many people are like, yes, sign me up. Let's go. I want to do that right now.

Saves Money makes sense. And yeah, 95% of the people that have done mortgage protection for was the critical period payment option. If you're waking up every day dreading your job, stuck in meetings that don't matter, making money for someone else, maybe it's time for a reset. At Spencer Financial Group, we help people break out of the nine to five grind and start earning what they're actually worth. No balls, no ceiling, just a proven system, real leads, and the freedom to build your schedule around your life, not the other way around. If you're ready for something different, go to www.thespencerfinancialgroup.com and check it out. It might change just everything.

I love it. Well, what's going on in your agency, Spencer, y'? All? I know you guys always are blowing it up.

Yeah, I mean, blessed, blessed, you know, been, you know, due to this podcast. But hiring all the right people, you know, they've been seeing us and coming in. But what's. What's very interesting is the leaders starting to form themselves has been one that's been getting promotions and all that fun stuff.

Okay, I love that.

Yeah, it's a little bit. It's a little bit different because all we're doing is the same thing over and over, just helping people and the. The remote work is different. Right. My team has been really, really, really heavy on working and helping families. But I'm like, hey, guys, you got to take a break sometime because, you know, we deal with people's problems all day. You know, we've been dealing with problems all day, and you get mentally fatigued and. And now it's just, like, not fun. So I've really been pushing for that. But, you know, the team has been. I do a lot of contests, and one thing that we know is that. One thing that we really know is that if you help a mom or dad that doesn't have life insurance, the chances of the kid not having life insurance is pretty high. So we've been doing contests on how many applications can you get in a week? And. Oh, nice, Betsy. My team is. I'm used to being, you know, they're looking up 7, 8, 9 apps in a week. You know, hello. And, you know, protecting grandparents and, you know, protecting the grandparent, then the grandchildren. So it's been fun, loving it. Now they're like, how can I help more people? You know, how can I help more people? So I'm like, you know, you can help more people because did you have an opportunity, you know, three months ago to make, you know, six, seven thousand dollars in your pajama pants. No, you did. Really? I help people with a headset and pajama pants on. And you've been good. I mean, sometimes I've seen them on an Indian style on the zoom, like, having fun, you know, helping people over the phone make an impact. So. Been really, really good. So. All right.

Okay, we got one more. We're going to leave y' all on a little cliffhanger, and you got to come back next week and find out what happens. But here we go. We got this life insurance agent in St. Pete. Let's see what happens. A St. Petersburg insurance agent is facing fraud charges, accused of exploiting older people for about $100,000. Right now, detectives are any additional. St. Petersburg police arrested Charles Bryan. Oh, we don't like these ones. Oh, I really don't like. I really don't like it when they're affecting the elder. Okay. All right. We'll come back next week. We're gonna see. We're gonna see what. What he did, buddy.

Allegedly did. Have a good one.

Peace out. Fraud, facts and life insurance. We'll see you next time. 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.