Miami Insurance Broker Sentenced to 3.5 Years in Condo Premium Finance Scheme

A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced a Miami insurance broker to 41 months in prison and more than $5 million in restitution for defrauding a Georgia credit union by obtaining loans for condominium associations’ premium financing, then using the loans for personal gain.

Heleonel Gonzalez, known as Leo, will now have to forfeit a property he purchased in the ski resort area of Park City, Utah, court records show. The prison time is less than the maximum that the judge could have imposed under sentencing guidelines, and less than prosecutors had recommended.

The 48-year-old Gonzalez, who owned Sharp Insurance Agency in Miami Lakes, pleaded guilty in November. He “devised a lucrative scheme cloaked in fraud and deception to steal loan proceeds from Peach State Federal Credit Union for his personal gain,” U.S. Attorney Ryan Buchanan said in a statement.

On at least 20 occasions in 2023 and early this year, he represented to P1 Finance, part of the credit union, that clients had authorized him to apply for loans that would be used to help condo associations pay their property insurance premiums, court documents show. He submitted a false premium finance agreement and disclosure statement in the name of 360 Community Association, the association for waterfront, high-rise condo units in Miami, according to court records.

Prosecutors said that Gonzalez’ insurance agency was an agent for Citizens Property Insurance Corp. Florida Department of Financial Services agent records show that Gonzalez’ appointment with Citizens began in 2016 and expires in April of this year. He also held active appointments with 15 other insurers.

Florida’s property insurance and condominium crises likely gave Gonzalez the perfect cover for his scheme. Insurance premiums for condos have soared in recent years, as have repair costs and association fees after Florida lawmakers in 2022 required more frequent inspections and cash reserves for condominium associations. Many condo unit owners have said they cannot afford the new costs and plan to move out.

The case was prosecuted in the Northern District of Georgia, where the credit union is based. Gonzalez voluntarily surrendered to the federal Bureau of Prisons.

“As a result of Gonzalez’s false and fraudulent representations, Peach State Federal Credit Union made the requested loans and transferred approximately $6 million to Gonzalez,” the prosecutors said in a statement in November. “He then used the loan proceeds to pay personal debts and expenses. Peach State Federal Credit Union would not have made the loans but for Gonzalez’s false and fraudulent representations.”

Gonzalez was still listed Thursday as president of the agency, on the Sharp Insurance Agency web page.