TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — A former insurance agent pled guilty last week to defrauding an elderly annuity client of more than $1,300,000.
The 49-year-old, Koreasa M. Williams, was charged with two counts of wire fraud, each of which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Sentencing is scheduled for July 5, 2022, before United States District Judge Jennifer G. Zipps.
Williams sold life and health insurance.
She admitted to defrauding her client in two distinct scams.
The first time, Williams admitted she engaged in two separate schemes to defraud her client. In the first scheme, she convinced her client to cash in many life insurance policies so that the profits might be invested in annuities. She defrauded her client out of $1,200,000 over a six-month period in 2019.
William spent over $900,000 to pay back victims of a previous unrelated annuity fraud operation in an attempt to escape criminal prosecution. The remaining $300,000 was used to cover her attorney's expenses for the unrelated fraud scheme as well as to settle a civil complaint brought by another customer.
In December 2021, Williams was sentenced to 51 months in prison after later pleading guilty to wire fraud in a separate fraud scheme.
In the second scheme, Williams convinced her client to dissolve a charity foundation and deposit more than $124,000 in a Williams-controlled corporation.
Williams was supposed to store the money until a new business could be formed to accept the funds, which would then be used to care for her client's impaired adult daughter. The new corporation was never formed and instead transferred more than $118,000 to her own use and gain.
The FBI, Tucson Resident Agency, investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Wallace H. Kleindienst and Mary Sue Feldmeier, of the Financial Crimes and Public Corruption section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, Tucson, handled the prosecution.
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Bivian Contreras is a real-time editor for KGUN 9. Bivian graduated from the University of Arizona School of Journalism with a Bachelor's degree in Journalism with an emphasis in Broadcast and is currently pursuing a degree in Broadcast Operational Meteorology. Share your story ideas and important issues with Bivian by emailing bivian.contreras@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
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