California Insurance Agents Arraigned in $687K Grand Theft Scheme

Licensed insurance agents Robert Farmer, 65, of Camarillo, Calif., and Marion Urcan, 67, of Agoura Hills, Calif., were arraigned in mid-January in Los Angeles County Superior Court on multiple counts of grand theft after allegedly accepting over $687,000 in insurance premium payments from business owners and misappropriating the money for their personal use.

Farmer and Urcan, doing business as Centerpointe Insurance Services Limited in Camarillo, reportedly accepted insurance premium payments from two towing companies in the Los Angeles area.

On June 20, 2019, the California Department of Insurance received a complaint from the owner of one of the towing companies that alleged Centerpointe Insurance Services accepted two checks totaling $391,000 for the company’s commercial auto insurance policy, but Farmer and Urcan did not forward these premium payments to the insurer. On Dec. 20, 2019, the CDI received a complaint from the other towing company that alleged Centerpointe embezzled a $50,000 down payment made toward the renewal of the towing company’s commercial auto insurance policy.

An investigation by the CDI reportedly revealed Farmer and Urcan accepted over $687,000 in total from the two towing companies but never sent the payments to an insurance company to secure liability insurance for either business owner, leaving them vulnerable to catastrophic loss.

The CDI is taking administrative action against the licensees.

They are scheduled to return to court on March 5.