Former Insurance Agent Convicted on 29 Counts Including Elder Abuse, Money Laundering
Former licensed insurance agent Brett E. Lovett, 53, of Camarillo, has reportedly been found guilty of 29 felony counts including grand theft, elder abuse, money laundering, and burglary.
According to a press release by the California Department of Insurance, the verdict follows a 15-month investigation which revealed Lovett’s defrauding of at least nine victims, including senior citizens, amounting to close to $1.2 million.
Lovett was arrested in October of 2017 following the department’s findings that, between 2011 and 2016, Lovett had exploited nine victims, some of whom were senior citizens he had met and befriended at a place of worship in Carpinteria. Others sought financial advice from Lovett through his legal aid information business.
Victims entrusted Lovett with their money for purported investments or financial management, neither of which moved forward. Lovett instead misappropriated the funds for personal use and to reimburse some victims, occasionally utilizing his Power of Attorney and Promissory Notes to embezzle funds.
This is not Lovett’s first brush with financial malfeasance, the DOI said. In 2007, operating as Northwest Asset Fund, Lovett was ordered by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission to pay over $675,900 in restitution, fines, and sanctions for similar offenses. Lovett failed to comply with the order and was subject to a permanent injunction by the CFTC for soliciting money under false pretenses between October 2002 and August 2005.
Lovett’s insurance license had expired in May 2000, yet he continued to provide unauthorized financial advice.
He is scheduled for sentencing on May 9, 2024, with the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s office prosecuting the case.
