South Bay father and son accused of insurance fraud scheme that raked in $1.4 million in ill-gotten commissions
A father and son from the South Bay have been charged with fraud and theft after an alleged years-long life-insurance scheme that netted them and three others million in ill-gotten commissions A complaint from an alleged victim s former lawyer in spurred an inquiry by California s insurance regulator that led to the arrest last month of Daniel Jon Carpenter of Morgan Hill his son Blake Carpenter of San Jose and two others while another suspect remains at large The California Department of Insurance alleged that the elder Carpenter orchestrated the fraud affecting more than two dozen people nearly all from the Bay Area Daniel Carpenter was arrested March and arraigned the next day in Santa Clara County Superior Court in San Jose on charges of insurance fraud grand theft and identity theft all felonies His son who turned himself in March is charged with felony insurance fraud and felony grand theft Another San Jose man Noah Maxwell Kuh was arrested March and charged with felony insurance fraud the insurance department disclosed Alejandro Carlos of Gilroy requested for alleged felony fraud and felony grand theft remains a fugitive the department commented A Southern California woman Natorae Marie Wettstein was charged with felony insurance fraud and felony grand theft She turned herself in March the department noted The Carpenters Kuh and Wettstein are scheduled to appear in court in San Jose on April for plea hearings All five accused have been licensed insurance agents with Kuh and Wettstein at present under license suspension the department noted The group are alleged to have misled clients about the terms of life insurance policies and deceived insurance companies about who was selling the policies in order to collect commissions on more than in insurance premiums paid by purported casualties the department stated This deceptive scheme allowed them to collect unearned commissions from four insurance carriers between and the department noted Twenty-eight people all but one from the Bay Area were victimized and the department commented it helped them recover more than million they collectively spent The lawyer who complained cited forgery and insurance fraud related to life insurance policies sold by Daniel Carpenter the department revealed Related Articles Ex-Qualcomm vice president convicted in million fraud scheme Silicon Valley AI startup founder sentenced for securities fraud Several Bay Area cemeteries shut down by state agency due to financial mismanagement Former California man pleads guilty in matter involving sale of bogus memorabilia with fake celebrity autographs Increasingly dangerous scam targets kids through sextortion Santa Clara County Superior Court records show Daniel Carpenter and Wettstein were sued by a client named Alex Lowry in Lowry alleged Carpenter forged his signature to buy two million life insurance policies and that because Carpenter lacked authorization to write the policies Wettstein was named as the agent Wettstein in court filings fought the proposes arguing that Lowry had been repaid by the insurer the in premiums he paid and that he knowingly held the two policies Carpenter in a court filing denied Lowry s proposes but declared he was willing to discuss a settlement Lowry dropped the situation last August under circumstances not made clear in court records His lawyer did not respond to requests for comment
