The Independent Commission Against Corruption revealed that a puppet insurance agent defrauded two insurance companies out of 52 million in commissions

ICAC

The Independent Commission Against Corruption found a multi-person “puppet insurance group” conspiracy to commit fraud and “money laundering” and charged 13 people, including the lead lawyer, who pleaded guilty to the charges in the District Court today (23rd).

The ICAC announced that its earlier investigation revealed that a number of people were suspected of being involved in a conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering by “puppet insurance agents”. 52 million Yuan. One of the leaders, who was a branch manager of an insurance company, and 12 “puppet insurance representatives” pleaded guilty in the District Court.

Hiring puppet agents shows that there is no need to seek customers

The ICAC said the 32-year-old FWD Life Insurance branch manager was the mastermind in the case.Lu Yanhua32 pleaded guilty to a total of 20 charges, including two counts of conspiracy to defraud and 18 counts of conspiracy to deal in property known or believed to be represent a vulnerable crime product. The other 12 defendants in the same case, aged between 24 and 61, are seven insurance agents from Lu Yanhua’s team, namely Chen Jiayu, Lin Xiaodong, Lin Weijie, Huang Zhuoli, Hu Jianliang, Zhou Yutian and Zhang Haoxiang and the the former manager of Sun Life Financial in Hong Kong, Guo Runfang and his four downline insurance agents, Tang Haolin, Du Weitao, Huang Lianxin and Liang Ziying. They pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to launder money.

The ICAC said it had previously received complaints about puppet insurance agents and launched an investigation. They found that between February 2016 and November 2020, Lu Yanhua employed a number of people, including the co-defendants, to join Sun Life and Fortune Hong Kong. respectively. Lu Yanhua told some people that they were puppet insurance agents and did not need to recruit customers after joining the company.

Puppet insurance agents ordered to pay back most of the commissions

After an investigation by the ICAC, it was found that Lu Yanhua conspired with the FWD insurer involved in the case to falsely claim that Lu Yanhua had hired and handled 272 policy claims. Lu Yanhua also conspired with Guo Runfang and the involved insurer Sun Life to falsely claim that Lu Yanhua recruited him to join Sun Life’s insurance team and that handled 206 insurance policy claims. Because Sun Life and FWD were not aware of the relevant activities, they approved 478 relevant applications and paid a total of more than NT$22 million in commissions, bonuses, bonuses and subsidies to Lu Yanhua’s team and Guo Runfang’s team , and a whole lot more. exceeded NT$29 million.

The ICAC also found that the 478 relevant policy claims mainly involved high-commission insurance products, and most of the policies were “cut off” and lapsed. The case also revealed that Lu Yanhua asked the puppet insurer to refund most of the amount to her after collecting commissions and other payments from the two insurance companies. The person involved subsequently transferred a total of approximately $47 million in criminal proceeds related to the above activities through 23 bank accounts. The bank account from which commissions and other payments were made was collected under the control of Lu Yanhua.

Four previously denied the charges and will undergo a pre-trial investigation in March next year

Judge Lin Weiquan adjourned the case until December 21 to continue hearing the defendant’s appeal. Du Weitao, Huang Lianxin, Chen Jiayu, Lin Xiaodong, Zhou Yutian and Zhang Haoxiang were detained at the Department of Correctional Services, and the remaining seven defendants were granted bail. In addition, Lu Yanhua’s husband and former FWD insurer Guo Haoliang were charged with two counts of conspiracy to defraud. The charges were filed in the District Court. The other four defendants in the same case, former Sun Life Hong Kong insurance agents Mo Yongxian and Luo Yaying, pleaded guilty; and former FWD insurance agents Yan Ziding and Jiang Ziying, previously pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the District Court. The case will go to a pre-trial review on March 20 next year, and the trial will begin on May 12 next year.

The original article was published on AM730 https://www.am730.com.hk/Local/ICAC exposes fraud of puppet insurance agency – two insurance companies defrauded of 52 million commission/509574?utm_source=yahorss&utm_medium=referral