Former California Insurance Agent Found Guilty of Taking $1.2M from Victims

Former licensed insurance agent Brett E. Lovett, 53, of Camarillo, California, was found guilty of 29 felony counts including grand theft, elder abuse, money laundering, and burglary after a 15-month California Department of Insurance investigation reportedly found he defrauded at least nine victims, including senior citizens, of nearly $1.2 million.

Lovett was arrested in 2017 after the department’s investigation revealed that between 2011 and 2016, he defrauded at least nine victims. Several of his victims were reportedly senior citizens whom he met and befriended at a place of worship in Carpinteria. Other victims sought legal advice from Lovett through his legal aid information business.

Victims entrusted Lovett with their money for proposed investments that never existed, or for financial management purposes. Lovett then misappropriated the money for his own personal use and to repay some of his victims.

In 2007, doing business as Northwest Asset Fund, Lovett was ordered to pay more than $675,900 in restitution, fines and sanctions by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Lovett never paid the fines or restitution. The CFTC entered a permanent injunction against Lovett, who never registered with the CFTC. Between October 2002 and August 2005, Lovett solicited money from individuals, purportedly to trade commodity futures, through false promises of high returns from a low-risk investment.

Lovett’s license to transact insurance expired in May 2000. He was not acting as an insurance agent during this time, but he was reportedly giving financial advice which he was not licensed to give.

Lovett is scheduled to return to court for sentencing on May 9. The Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s office is prosecuting the case.