Former Agent Sentenced for Selling Fake Auto Policies

A former insurance agent has been sentenced after pleading guilty to one misdemeanor count of unlawful concealment of insurance payments.

The California Department of Insurance Investigation Division determined that former insurance agent Yvette Roberta Lopez of Camarillo, Calif., and her employee, Antonio “Tony” Briones, accepted more than $3,000 in insurance premiums, issued fraudulent insurance identification cards to victims and failed to remit premiums to insurance companies for automobile insurance policies.

The CDI Investigation Division worked with the Ventura County District Attorney’s Fraud Division on investigating Lopez, who operated Yvette R. Lopez Insurance Services in Ventura County, Calif., with offices in Santa Paula and Oxnard, Calif.

Victims allegedly were given insurance identification cards that were unauthorized by the insurance companies, and Lopez failed to remit the vehicle insurance premium payments to insurance companies. Victims discovered they were not insured when they failed to receive insurance documents. In one case, a victim was involved in a traffic collision with injuries and was notified by the DMV that he did not have valid insurance.

Lopez was sentenced to one day in county jail, 80 hours of community service, 36 months formal probation and ordered to pay restitution for one misdemeanor count of unlawful concealment of insurance benefits or payments.

Lopez pleaded guilty to the one misdemeanor count of unlawful concealment of insurance benefits or payments. Briones’ criminal case is still pending.