Insurance Agent Ponzi Schemer Faces New Fraud Charges

Aug. 02--Convicted Ponzi schemer Joseph D. Ransberger has been accused in a new plot, this time to allegedly defraud insurance premium finance companies to help pay for a lavish lifestyle.

The 49-year-old former Palm Beach Gardens insurance agent faces 105 new charges of grand theft and money laundering, Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater announced Wednesday.

Ransberger allegedly came up with the new plot even as he was accused of conducting two other schemes involving insurance.

Ransberger, sentenced in May, is currently serving a year in county jail with 30 years of probation to follow.

Prosecutors in Palm Beach County will handle the new charges. If convicted, Ransberger faces up to another 30 years in prison.

Ransberger is accused of concocting his new plot after he was first arrested in June 2009 for a scheme in which he allegedly borrowed nearly $2 million dollars for insurance policies on entities that never existed, according to Atwater's office.

In late 2011, the state Division of Insurance Fraud received a second complaint against Ransberger. All Risks Ltd. accused Ransberger of misappropriating insurance premium funds between the date of his courtroom plea and his scheduled sentencing.

An investigation found that Ransberger had submitted a fake commercial insurance application for liability coverage on a Palm Beach County apartment complex to All Risks, according to a statement released by Atwater's office. That ultimately resulted in a $12,760.73 check for the premium -- that Ransberger used for himself.

In May, a new company accused him of wrong-doing.

SIUPREM, a premium finance company, said Ransberger had submitted more than 100 fraudulent premium finance agreements in 14 months. A premium finance company is a lending institution that finances insurance premiums for a fee.

Atwater said in a statement on Wednesday the state would not tolerate repeated white collar criminal schemes.

"Career scam artists undermine the intent of insurance coverage and put businesses at risk for their own personal gain," CFO Atwater said in a statement. "Our fraud investigators will continue to track down these schemes and put the perpetrators behind bars where they belong."

Anyone with information about suspected insurance fraud should call 800-378-0445.

Sun Sentinel researcher Barbara Hijek contributed to this report.

[email protected], 954-356-4404 or Twitter @donnagehrke

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