Florida Insurance Agent Arrest
A Florida insurance agent was arrested on numerous counts of alleged fraud and grand theft in connection with a stranger-originated life insurance (STOLI) scheme involving $78 million in death benefits, according to the Florida Department of Financial Services.
Steven Brasner of Infinity Financial Group in Boynton Beach, Fla., was arrested at his office and booked into Palm Beach County Jail, according to the Financial Services department. He was arrested after an investigation by the Florida Division of Insurance Fraud and the State Attorney’s Office in Palm Beach County, Fla., the Financial Services agency said.
He allegedly submitted insurance applications to AXA Equitable Life Insurance Co. with false information on prospective insureds’ net worth and arranged for the policies to be sold on the secondary market in a STOLI scam.
A probable cause affidavit alleged that Brasner sought insurance for five seniors and said that the policies were not intended to be sold. It also alleged he earned $1.6 million in commissions on the $78 million worth of policies.
In addition to the AXA policies, the affidavit alleges that Brasner obtained another $6.5 million policy for an elderly woman with Transamerica Occidental Life Insurance Co., now known as Transamerica Life Insurance Co.
Brasner allegedly promised to pay the insureds 3% to 5% of the face value of the policies when they were sold after the two-year contestability period.
In the same case, AXA previously sued Brasner and others in June 2008 for alleged fraud in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Source: Press
