Hacienda Heights unlicensed insurance agent sentenced after stealing $450,000 in clients’ premiums
News: 2021 Press Release
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Unlicensed insurance agent Ai Ling Lee, also known as Linda Lee, 61, of Hacienda Heights, was convicted of nine felony counts of grand theft after stealing nearly half a million dollars of her small business clients’ insurance premium payments.
An investigation by the Department of Insurance found Lee, as owner-operator of Jubilee Insurance Services, acted as an insurance agent to steal $450,000 in premium payments even though she was not properly licensed by the Department. She accepted premium payments from her clients to place liability, property or workers’ compensation insurance coverage, but either failed to place coverage or allowed the coverage to lapse for nonpayment leaving nine restaurants, construction companies and biochemical companies at risk of uninsured losses.
Lee was convicted and sentenced on April 7, 2021, to serve two years of probation and to pay $414,910 in restitution to her victims. The Department of Insurance urges anyone who believes they may have been a victim of Lee to contact the Investigation Division at (323) 278-5000.
“Thanks to the hard work by my Department’s investigators and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office this unlicensed agent has been brought to justice and her victims will receive the restitution they deserve,” said Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara. “Every small business owner should check the license status of anyone claiming to sell insurance so they don’t become an unwitting victim of scams like this.”
People can check the license status of their agent or contact the Department of Insurance at 800-927-4357 if they suspect they are victims of insurance fraud.
In order to inflate premium payments and hide her embezzlement, Lee altered declaration pages for several clients. The premium payments collected by Lee were either not remitted to insurance carriers or only partially paid. Lee also forged clients’ signatures on finance agreements in order to finance some of the insurance premiums without her clients’ knowledge or consent.
This case was prosecuted by the White Collar Crime Division of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. The Department of Insurance issued a Cease and Desist Order against Lee on August 7, 2018, and revoked her business’, Jubilee Insurance Services, license on December 1, 2018.
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Led by Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, the California Department of Insurance is the consumer protection agency for the nation's largest insurance marketplace and safeguards all of the state’s consumers by fairly regulating the insurance industry. Under the Commissioner’s direction, the Department uses its authority to protect Californians from insurance rates that are excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory, oversee insurer solvency to pay claims, set standards for agents and broker licensing, perform market conduct reviews of insurance companies, resolve consumer complaints, and investigate and prosecute insurance fraud. Consumers are urged to call 1-800-927-4357 with any questions or contact us at www.insurance.ca.gov via webform or online chat. Non-media inquiries should be directed to the Consumer Hotline at 800-927-4357. Teletypewriter (TTY), please dial 800-482-4833.
