Bryn Mawr Man Ran $21 Million Insurance Fraud Scheme: Feds

BRYN MAWR, PA — A Bryn Mawr man has been accused of conspiring to commit a more than $21 million insurance premium financing fraud scheme with another man from Delaware County, according to federal authorities.

United States Attorney William M. McSwain said Christopher Hogg, 61, of Bryn Mawr, and Rennie Rodriguez, 52, of Broomall, were arrested and charged by complaint with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a multi-million dollar insurance premium financing fraud scheme.

Hogg was arrested in New York City on Tuesday and appeared before a United States Magistrate Judge Wednesday in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Rodriguez was arrested earlier this week at his office in Broomall and had his initial appearance on Tuesday in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The complaint alleges that Hogg, a businessman, and Rodriguez, a licensed insurance broker, conducted a scheme involving the issuance of fraudulent insurance premium finance loans, which were originated by an insurance premium finance company and funded by banks.

They conducted this scheme with the help of a third person who was an employee of the insurance premium finance company.

Between at least November 2016 and January 2018, the employee approved approximately 37 premium finance loans, or loan supplements, originated by insurance agencies controlled by Rodriguez, purportedly to purchase policies to insure entities owned or controlled by Hogg and/or Rodriguez, or in a few instances controlled by other individuals.

These loans were purportedly for the purpose of financing insurance premiums. However, as Hogg, Rodriguez, and the employee knew, there were no underlying insurance policies, and Hogg and Rodriguez used the proceeds for other purposes.

The loans totaled about $21,357,645.

Instead of paying insurance premiums (because there were no actual insurance policies), Rodriguez kept some proceeds for himself and distributed most of the other proceeds to bank accounts controlled by Hogg, or in a few instances to other individuals/entities.

The pair used some proceeds from newer loans to make loan payments to the premium finance company or to the banks on older loans.

Had loan payments not been made on at least some loans, the premium finance company and the banks likely would have become suspicious.

Additionally, between approximately October 2016 and December 2017, Hogg made about 40 kickback payments, totaling $873,118, to the finance company employee who had approved the fraudulent loans.

The employee has admitted to law enforcement that these payments were made to him because he approved the bogus loans.