Randall N. Levesque Guilty Plea

EQUINE INSURANCE AGENT PLEADS GUILTY IN $1.3 MILLION FRAUD SCHEME

PROVIDENCE – A Middletown insurance agent and agency owner who specializes in providing equine insurance coverage today admitted to operating schemes which defrauded customers, insurance companies, and finance companies of approximately $1.3 million dollars.

Appearing before U.S. District Court Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., Randall N. Levesque, 57, of Middletown, owner of Equine Insurance Services, LLC and Randall Levesque Agency, pled guilty to an information charging him with wire fraud, announced United States Attorney Stephen G. Dambruch, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service Stephen Marks, and Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police Ann C. Assumpico.

According to court documents, Levesque overbilled and double-billed customers when billing their credit cards for premiums due on policies, some of which the client did not request or did not agree to finance, at times forging the customers’ signature; collected premiums on insurance policies issued by at least two insurance companies but, upon receipt from customers, did not forward the payments to the insurance companies; and, at times, financed premiums and received funds on behalf of customers without the customers’ consent or knowledge, and submitted financing agreements to finance companies for fictitious customers, for whom there were no policies.

According to Court documents, Levesque collected but did not remit to insurance companies over $800,000 in premiums; fraudulently obtained over $500,000 in financed premiums from at least two finance companies; and charged customers’ credit cards at total of approximately $80,000 for premiums that he failed to provide to insurance companies.

Levesque is scheduled to be sentenced on March 12, 2019.

Wire fraud is punishable by statutory penalties of up to 20 years in federal prison, a fine of $250,000 or not more than twice the gross gain or twice the gross loss from the offense, and a term of supervised release of up to 3 years.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra R. Hebert. The matter was investigated by the United States Secret Service and Rhode Island State Police.