Farmed Out for Fraud

On Nov. 1, a Tehama County Superior Court Judge sentenced former Red Bluff insurance agent David Michael Chene to nine years in state prison. Chene was also ordered to pay $273,000 in restitution plus 10 percent interest per year.

Chene was charged with four felony counts for allegedly bilking his former insurance clients out of more than $200,000 in fraudulent investment loans. Investigators allege that in most of Chene’s investment fraud cases, he would send loan and investment solicitation letters to his State Farm insurance clients using State Farm letterhead

Chene would promise interest rates of 10-12 percent on the investments, which usually averaged between $3,000 to $5,000 per client. Chene also reportedly collected more than $200,000 from clients for supposed investment into Mountain Valley RV Park, which he owned.