Former Santa Rosa agent sentenced to prison after stealing from consumers
News: 2023 Press Release
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Christopher Ramos, 45, of Santa Rosa, was sentenced today to four years in prison after an investigation by the California Department of Insurance found he stole over $189,000 from consumers and left them uninsured. Ramos was convicted of multiple felony counts of grand theft, theft of fiduciary funds and additional enhancements for theft over $100,000.00.
Ramos was also sentenced to five years of mandatory supervision and ordered to pay $189,526 in restitution to his victims.
Ramos worked as an insurance broker from 1999 until 2015 under the business names See Solutions Insurance Brokerage LLC and CDR Insurance Agency LLC. The Department’s investigation found between 2014 and 2016, Ramos collected money from his victims that was intended to be premiums to pay their respective insurance carriers, but Ramos failed to remit the money to the insurance carrier and kept it for his personal use.
Ramos also created fraudulent certificates of insurance so his victims would be unaware that policies were not placed with insurance carriers. His actions resulted in the victims’ policies being cancelled, which they did not discover until the investigation began.
Ramos’ insurance license was suspended and eventually revoked in 2019. The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office prosecuted this case.
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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.
