Vicki Lee McGinley, 58, a licensed agent, was arrested by the Kern County Sheriff's Department on seven counts of identity theft and seven counts of insurance fraud after allegedly misrepresenting policy and premium information to clients resulting in losses to her employers and increased premiums for her clients.
"As a licensed agent McGinley violated her fiduciary responsibilities and trust of those around her," said Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones. "The Department of Insurance has a strong enforcement division to investigate and stop insurance fraud schemes like this one, which costs consumers and insurers billions of dollars each year."
The California Department of Insurance Investigation Division began its investigation after receiving a complaint from McGinley's previous employer.
The investigation revealed McGinley had misrepresented information on over 100 homeowner and auto policies by manipulating the company database and falsifying insurance applications, unbeknownst to her clients, in order to meet sales quotas, increase clientele, and gain additional commissions.
For over seven years, McGinley applied unwarranted discounts to clients' policies and falsified documentation to justify the discounts including forging nursing certificates in clients' names to authorize professional discounts for their policies. McGinley's scheme resulted in an unknown loss to the insurance carriers who employed her and higher premiums for her clients.
Investigators also discovered that after McGinley was terminated from one insurance company she started working for a different insurer and continued her scheme misrepresenting information to the company and clients.
The department has taken appropriate action to suspend McGinley's license. McGinley's clients' policies are still in place.
McGinley was booked into the Kern County Jail and bail is set at $ 70,000.00. McGinley's arraignment is scheduled for tomorrow, August 30, 2016, at 8:00 a.m. in Kern County Superior Court, Department IC. The Kern County District Attorney's Office is prosecuting this case.
