Bristol man pleads guilty to defrauding investors of nearly $1.2M in annuity scam, U.S. attorney says

Journal Inquirer (Manchester, CT)

Jul. 26—The U.S. attorney's office said John Horvath, 72, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty to fraud and tax offenses on Wednesday in New Haven federal court, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut's office said in a news release.

Horvath was licensed by the state as a resident insurance producer, which authorized him to sell various forms of insurance. In that capacity, it said, he sold annuity contracts to clients that were issued by Allianz Life Insurance Co. of North America.

Beginning no later than July 2015 and continuing until April 2021, the U.S. attorney's office said, Horvath defrauded several clients by advising them that they could achieve better rates of return through alternative investments rather than their existing annuity contracts. The U.S. attorney's office said he told clients he could broker and manage those investments.

The U.S. attorney's office said the victim investors gave Horvath investment funds with the expectation he would manage the funds for them. Instead, Horvath commingled their funds with his own and used the pooled money to pay personal expenses and repay earlier victims, the office said.

"Through this scheme, Horvath defrauded at least eight victims out of approximately $1,189,200," the U.S. attorney's office said.

Horvath also failed to pay income taxes on his substantial income from the scheme, resulting in a loss to the government of $267,739 for the 2015 through 2020 tax years, the U.S. attorney's office said.

Horvath pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years, and one count of tax evasion, which comes with a maximum sentence of five years in prison, the U.S. attorney's office said. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 18. He is released on a $50,000 bond.