Former Madera insurance agent convicted for felony grand theft
News: 2021 Press Release
FRESNO, Calif. — Former insurance agent Wendy Judd, 47, of Madera, pleaded guilty to felony grand theft after embezzling over $20,000 of insurance premium payments from consumers.
The California Department of Insurance launched an investigation after receiving a referral from the insurance company that employed Judd. The investigation showed that between March 2014 and January 2015 she collected $20,982 in cash premium payments from consumers that were not remitted to the insurance company.
Judd credited the consumers’ policies with the payments to keep them in force, but failed to deposit the funds into a premium trust account for the insurance company to pull the payments from. Instead, she kept the cash for her personal benefit. Judd attempted to conceal her actions by depositing personal checks into the premium trust account weeks later, but most of those checks were returned due to insufficient funds.
In October 2015, after resigning from the insurance company, Judd embezzled more money by withdrawing an additional $3,000 of premium payments from the trust account. When interviewed by Department investigators, Judd disputed the amount of money she had taken, but admitted that she had “borrowed” some premium payments with the intent of eventually paying it back.
Judd’s insurance license expired in September 2020. The Department is in the process of initiating an administrative action to prevent her from reinstating the license. The case was prosecuted by the Madera County District Attorney's Office.
Consumers 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.
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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.
