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Date: 09-22-2021
Case Style:
Case Number: 6:21-cr-06055-CJS
Judge: Charles J. Siragusa
Court: United States District Court for the Western District of New York (Monroe County)
Plaintiff's Attorney: United States Attorney’s Office
Defendant's Attorney:
Description: Rochester, NY: Criminal defense lawyer represented defendant charged with wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Brian Bartz, 39, of Rochester, NY, was charged wire fraud and aggravated identity theft for, over a five year period,
selling and servicing policies and receiving commissions and bonuses for selling such policies. In connection with his employment, Bartz submitted approximately 105 fraudulent policy applications in various individuals’ names without their knowledge, utilizing actual names, social security numbers, and dates of birth. As a result, life insurance policies were issued, and the defendant was paid a total of $382,740.63 in commissions and bonuses to which he was not entitled. Bartz also used approximately $70,579.83 that he fraudulently withdrew from various bank accounts of unsuspecting clients in order to pay policy premiums on the fraudulent life insurance policies he obtained.
In addition, Bartz defrauded his insurance clients and potential clients by falsely claiming to also be an investment advisor, persuading individuals to invest funds that he never invested nor intended to invest. Rather than investing such funds on behalf of his clients, Bartz used them to gamble or to pay back prior investors. To prevent victims from inquiring about their investments, Bartz issued fake account statements. The victims included a widow who “invested” a $332,500 payout from her deceased husband’s life insurance policy with the defendant. Bratz stole all but $10,000 of that widow’s investment.
In total, the loss amount for Bartz’s schemes is approximately $1,026,668.46.
The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Stephen Belongia, and the New York State Department of Financial Services, under the direction of Superintendent Adrienne Harris.
18:1343.F FRAUD BY WIRE, RADIO, OR TELEVISION
(1)
18:1028A.F FRAUD WITH IDENTIFICATION DOCUMENTS
(2)
Outcome: Defendant was sentenced to serve 70 months in prison and to pay full restitution.
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: