"Southland agents arrested for fraud and ID theft in commissions scam ... multiple felony counts of identity theft and grand theft after allegedly submitting fraudulent insurance applications with information from stolen identities"
Which netted them almost $125,000 in comp.
And a jail term.
The way it works is that some carriers offer "commission advances," whereby they pay (for example) a year's commission on a policy which has paid only a month's premium. This may be helpful to an agent's cash flow, but can come back to bite one in the tush if, say, that plan were to lapse in just a few months' time.
Or if the subsequent premiums aren't paid, which in this case they (obviously) wouldn't be.
It apparently didn't take long for the carrier to figure out the scam, and drop a dime on the perps, who look to be learning a whole new meaning to "prospecting."
I've never really understood why folks like this think these schemes will work out, long term. After all, if no one's paying the subsequent premiums, seems like the plans would lapse, and (as noted above) the advances would be forfeit. How does this make sense?
/sigh
[Hat Tip: FoIB David Fluker]
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