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Ex-VP Who Stole $1.4M From CT Insurance Firm Sentenced to Prison: Feds

A Pennsylvania man who exploited his role at a Connecticut insurance company to steal more than $1.4 million is heading to federal prison, authorities said. 

Jail Cell

Jail Cell

Photo Credit: Image by Daniel Vanderkin (Pixabay)

James Keating, 52, of Paoli, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 20 months behind bars, followed by three years of supervised release, for defrauding Allied World Insurance Company out of more than a million dollars. U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden also ordered him to pay back over $1.2 million in restitution.

Prosecutors said Keating used his position as a surety bond claims handler at Allied World, which operates out of Farmington, to orchestrate a complex scheme between 2017 and 2021.

Keating pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in July 202 and could have faced up to 20 years in prison, federal authorities said. 

Keating created a shell company, American Construction & Industrial LLC, to bill Allied World for fake claims work, pocketing nearly $1 million. He also funneled kickbacks from company vendors through a second business he owned, Surety Risk Solutions, collecting over $350,000. In addition, he forced vendors to use another company he secretly co-owned, Kodiak Asset Recovery, charging vastly inflated prices to pad his profits by an additional $125,000, prosecutors said. 

"Keating’s actions were a blatant betrayal of trust,” said Marc H. Silverman, Acting U.S. Attorney for Connecticut. “He used fake companies, kickbacks, and deceptive tactics to line his pockets at the expense of his employer.”

Keating's scheme unraveled after an internal investigation, and he repaid nearly $220,000 in civil judgments before his criminal case concluded. The final loss to Allied World is calculated at  $1,226,603.97, authorities ruled.

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