Vice President of Insurance Underwriting Group Charged With Fraudulently Obtaining $13.5 Million in Phony ‘Matching Deductible’ Policies

Targeted News Service (Press Releases)

CHICAGO, Illinois, July 20 -- The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, John R. Lausch Jr., issued the following news release:

The vice president of an insurance underwriting group fraudulently obtained more than $13.5 million from a corporate client by fraudulently issuing and collecting premium payments on "matching deductible" policies, according to federal criminal charges filed today by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago.

DAVID BALLARD, 54, of Chicago, oversaw the Pennsylvania account of a large health care company. From 2005 to 2016, Ballard fraudulently issued "matching deductible" insurance renewal policies that his employer had not authorized, according to a criminal information filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Ballard created and submitted to the health care company phony estimates, invoices, binder letters and policies that outlined the purported terms of coverage, the charges allege. He then had the premium payments diverted to a shell company that he controlled, the information states. As a result of the scam, Ballard fraudulently pocketed more than $13.5 million, which he used to pay personal expenses, including credit card bills, expensive dinners, travel costs, and real estate for himself and his family, according to the charges.

Ballard is charged with one count of wire fraud, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Arraignment in U.S. District Court in Chicago has not yet been scheduled.

The charge was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Jeffrey S. Sallet, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The public is reminded that an information is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.