‘Annuity King’ Phillip Roy Wasserman sentenced to prison for $6.3M fraud

A Tampa, Fla. judge sentenced Phillip Roy Wasserman to 15 years in prison Wednesday for overseeing a fraud that cost retirees millions.

Wasserman must turn himself in on Feb. 23. Reached this morning, Wasserman said he will appeal to the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, adding: "And we will win."

Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell's decision bars Wasserman from working in the insurance industry.

Wasserman was convicted May 15 on nine felony counts. The three most serious – wire fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud – all carried lengthy prison terms. The self-styled "Annuity King" in Florida promotions, Wasserman ran a fraud totaling $6.3 million, the government alleged, money it seeks to recover.

In a separate order Wednesday, the judge granted the government's motion for forfeiture of more than $6.3 million from Wasserman. The government can go after Wasserman's property to satisfy that amount, the ruling states.

"With false promises of riches and security, Mr. Wasserman exploited the most vulnerable in our society," Special Agent in Charge with IRS-Criminal Investigation Brian Payne said in a statement. "Investment schemes that target the elderly are especially heinous and will not be tolerated by the justice system."

Fraud funded lavish lifestyle

Wasserman spent "a significant amount of the victim-investors’ money" to finance a lavish lifestyle that included a luxury personal residence, a beach house on Casey Key, Tampa Bay Lightning season and playoff tickets, concerts and other shows, vehicles, jet skis, jewelry, personal celebrity entertainment, gambling, retail shopping, home improvements, personal insurance, and a host of other expenses for his personal benefit and the benefit of family members, the U.S. attorney's office has said.

The government claims Wasserman, 67, with Kenneth Rossman, lied and concealed information to convince elderly victim-investors to put their money into Wasserman’s life insurance venture called, “FastLife.”

Despite facing a sentencing range of 30 to 37 months, Rossman was sentenced to probation in August. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, and one count of "aiding and assisting the preparation and filing of fraud and false tax returns" in a plea deal with the federal government.

Rossman testified against Wasserman as part of the deal.

The government requested a stiff sentence for Wasserman, claiming that he urged one witness to lie to investigators, attempted to dissuade several victim-investors from cooperating with law enforcement, and requested that one victim-investor make a baseless complaint against an investigator.

In addition, Wasserman falsely and fraudulently represented that he had an audit from a highly regarded financial services firm that would show neither he nor FastLife had committed any wrongdoing, the government said.

"In fact, Wasserman had never even engaged the firm to perform an audit and never received any final work product of any kind from the firm," a news release said.

Tax charges

Wasserman also pleaded guilty to tax avoidance charges.

In its indictment, the government claimed that Wasserman avoided taxes in the years 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2009. After years of collection efforts, the Internal Revenue Service wrote off more than $800,000 in uncollected taxes, the indictment said.

Wasserman faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $100,000 fine on the tax charge.

"False allegations against our investigators, coverups of financial documents, or witness tampering will not deter us," Payne said. "Wasserman called himself the 'Annuity King,' but his actions and crimes have earned him another name: 'Convicted Felon.'"

InsuranceNewsNet Senior Editor John Hilton covered business and other beats in more than 20 years of daily journalism. John may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnH.

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InsuranceNewsNet Senior Editor John Hilton has covered business and other beats in more than 20 years of daily journalism. John may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnH.