SANTA ANA – On March 6, 2015, a former insurance agent in Southern California  who committed insurance fraud and spent commission and premium money from that criminal activity on luxury high-rise apartments, travel, wine clubs and fine dining, was sentenced to seven years in state prison and ordered to pay $918,302 in restitution.

Jacob Richard Bonzer, 28, formerly of Lake Forest was arrested in Chicago in August 2014 after investigators with the California Department of Insurance discovered he was selling fraudulent insurance policies in Orange County.   He pleaded guilty to 96 felony counts including grand theft, forgery, and insurance fraud.

"This man had one scheme after another involving homeowner and workers' compensation insurance," said California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSELA) President Alan Barcelona.  "California Department of Insurance investigators teamed up with the Orange County District Attorney's Office and the Brea Police Department to see that Bonzer was investigated and sentenced for his crimes."

According to a press release  from the Orange County District Attorney, for four years, 2009 to 2013, Bonzer, collected more than $900,000 in commissions and premium payments for fake polices, and created fake insurance companies to defraud customers.

(Photo courtesy of Cook County Detention Center, Chicago Police Department)