Insurance Broker Charged With Scamming Calif. Nonprofit
February 12, 2014 by Gary Klien, The Marin Independent Journal, Novato, Calif.
Feb. 11–An insurance salesman was arrested on allegations he stole $30,000 from a San Rafael nonprofit by fraudulently claiming an extra broker’s fee.
Russell Joseph Sage, 39, of Sacramento is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in Marin Superior Court, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Barry Borden. Sage is charged with felony theft by false pretenses.
The alleged victim is Center Point Inc., which provides substance abuse rehabilitation and other services. In 2012, Sage sold the nonprofit a $500,000 workers’ compensation policy.
A broker’s fee was included in the structure of the policy, but Sage sentCenter Point separate invoices for a commission, according to an affidavit by Deputy District Attorney Tom McCallister, a financial crimes prosecutor in Marin.
Center Point paid Sage in two checks of $15,000 each, McCallister said.
Sage was arrested Monday in Yolo County, where he was serving a jail sentence in a different insurance fraud and money laundering case, according toJonathan Raven, a Yolo County prosecutor.
Raven remained in custody Tuesday at Marin County Jail in lieu of $30,000 bail.
Center Point officials did not respond to a call seeking comment Tuesday.
Sage surrendered his professional licenses last year, according to the California Department of Insurance website.