2 Charged With Selling Fake Insurance in Michigan

October 30, 2018

Two people in Michigan face felony charges filed by the state’s attorney general for allegedly selling fraudulent insurance to customers.

The charges are the result a joint investigation by the Child, Elder, and Family Financial Crimes Division at the Michigan Attorney General’s Office and the Department of Insurance and Financial Services.

Angella Swain and Cornell Jones, both of Flint, were arraigned on Oct. 29.

Swain is charged with the following 13 felonies:

  • 1 Count of Conducting a Criminal Enterprise, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison;
  • 11 Counts of Embezzlement by an Agent of more than $1,000 but less than $20,000, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison; and
  • 1 Count of Using a Computer to Commit a Crime, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Jones is charged with one count of Conspiring to Conduct a Criminal Enterprise, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Swain and Jones were arraigned in the Genesee County 67th District Court in Flint in front of Judge David Guinn. Both defendants were released on Personal Recognizance bond. Their next court date is scheduled for Nov. 8, 2018.

An investigation was started by the DIFS in June 2016 after an alleged victim reported that they had unknowingly purchased fraudulent insurance. DIFS identified the two defendants as the alleged individuals involved in selling fraudulent insurance. In September 2016 the case was referred to the Department of Attorney General for further investigation.

Swain was a licensed insurance agent in Michigan beginning in 2002 and operated Swain Insurance until 2013, when DIFS suspended her license for failing to remit premiums to insurance companies. Also in 2013, Swain’s ex-husband Cornell Jones began operating Select Insurance Services, and Swain allegedly sold fraudulent insurance through Select. DIFS permanently revoked Swain’s license in 2014 and Jones’ license in 2016.

Between 2011 and 2016 it is alleged that at least twenty victims paid either Swain Insurance or Select Insurance for homeowners and auto insurance but never received coverage, and some victims did not discover they lacked insurance until they were in a car accident and tried to make an insurance claim.

The investigations found that Angella Swain allegedly pocketed some of her client’s insurance premiums instead of remitting them to the insurance companies. It is alleged that Swain then issued clients false insurance certificates, leading them to believe they had insurance coverage when they did not.

A criminal charge is merely an accusation and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Source: Michigan DIFS

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