Insurance agent charged with swindling senior

By Kevin Beese Staff Reporter

A former suburban insurance agent has been indicted on federal fraud charges for allegedly swindling money from an elderly client.

Diane Lazar, also known as Diane Dowd, formerly of Palos Heights, was a licensed insurance producer and authorized agent of various insurance companies.

Beginning in 2008 and continuing until 2014, Lazar submitted applications for a North Riverside client in his 80s to purchase several annuities and a life insurance policy from the companies Lazar represented, according to an indictment returned in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

Upon approval of the applications, the client paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in premiums, including $494,000 to Mutual of Omaha, and Lazar received commissions from the companies, including $7,500 from the Mutual of Omaha sales, the indictment states.

Lazar than allegedly sold the North Riverside man a Midland annuity, paid with $460,000 of Mutual of Omaha annuities. Federal investigators said Lazar got $9,400 as a commission for the Midland sale.

When seeking surrender of the Mutual of Omaha annuities, Lazar represented herself as the North Riverside senior and said he needed the money for a property purchase, investigators said. She also set up a post office box to control annuity and insurance mailings, the indictment states.

In some instances, Lazar designated her daughter, who has a different last name, as the beneficiary of the annuities, falsely claiming that her daughter was the client’s grandchild or great-grandchild, according to the indictment.

As an example, investigators said, the senior paid $42,000 in premiums for a Sagicor annuity, which was paid through the surrender of a Mutual of Omaha annuity. The new annuity listed Lazar’s daughter as the beneficiary; and Lazar received a $1,000 commission for that sale, according to the indictment.

The North Riverside man would eventually buy a $400,000 Sagicor annuity funded through the surrender of the Midland annuity, according to investigators. They said Lazar made a $10,000 commission on the sale and Midland charged the man $34,000 in surrender fees.

Less than five months before he died, Lazar allegedly sold the man a $25,000 Transamerica life insurance policy that named her daughter as the beneficiary.

Upon the client’s death in 2014, Lazar attempted to fraudulently collect some of the client’s annuity and insurance proceeds, the indictment alleges.  She also submitted a phony power of attorney to the client’s bank to fraudulently withdraw the remaining $100,000 from his checking account, the indictment states.

The power of attorney form, federal agents said, was purportedly signed by the man in the presence of a notary public. However, Lazar actually had a notary authorize the document in the man’s’ absence by falsely stating to the notary that the man was Lazar’s grandfather and the document needed to be notarized urgently because her grandfather was in hospice care, investigators said.

She was also added as an authorized user of the man’s PNC bank account three weeks after the man’s death, investigators said.

They noted that Lazar went as far as going to Cook County probate court to have Diane Dowd, her maiden name, be the guardian of her daughter’s estate, who has a different last name than Lazar.

The indictment was returned Feb. 4. It charges Lazar, 46, of Cape Coral, Florida, with two counts of wire fraud, one count of bank fraud and one count of making a false statement to a financial institution.

Arraignment is set for Feb. 27 in Chicago before U.S. District Judge Charles R. Norgle Sr.

“Keeping older Americans safe from fraud is a top priority for the Department of Justice,” said U.S. Attorney John Lausch. “We are committed to protecting our vulnerable seniors from those who seek to exploit them.”

The bank fraud and false statement counts are each punishable by up to 30 years in federal prison, while each count of wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years. If convicted, the court must impose a “reasonable” sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.

If convicted, federal officials said they will seek $101,140 from Lazar.

Elder fraud complaints may be filed with the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov or 877-FTC-HELP.

Information about the Department of Justice’s efforts to help seniors is available at its Elder Justice Initiative webpage, www.justice.gov/elderjustice.