New Britain insurance agent Gabriel Dominguez had his license revoked after a year-long investigation by the Connecticut Insurance Department revealed that he had defrauded two insurance carriers between 2014 and 2015.
Dominguez, who has addresses in Waterbury and New Britain, defrauded two insurers of tens of thousands of dollars, and almost defrauded a third, the state Department of Insurance said.
According to the complaint, Chesapeake Life Insurance Company paid Dominguez advanced commissions $48,192 for 40 insurance policies submitted July 2014. The complaint noted that the policies were for fictitious individuals.
The state Insurance Department also said that the 83 names whom Dominguez signed up for 145 accident and sickness policies from Combined Insurance Company between March and June in 2015 were also fabricated. Combined Insurance terminated Dominguez's contract upon learning of the fraud, which kick-started the department’s investigation.
Dominguez defrauded Combined Insurance of $63,898 with those policies, of which $25,245 was repaid. He told the company he would start paying back the rest in January 2016.
"[He] never made a single payment to Combined Insurance," the complaint said.
Dominguez’ fraud hurt his customers as well, reported the
Hartford Courant.
A customer identified only as “Sarah” said that she thought she had purchased an ACA-compliant individual health insurance policy from Dominguez back in Jan. 2014. Dominguez, however, sold her a critical illness plan and a hospital insurance plan—both designed only to be supplemental to a regular insurance policy.
Sarah learned too late that her coverage was inadequate when she got pregnant. The complaint said that she called Dominguez a number of times to resolve the claims, but he later stopped answering her calls.
"As a result, Sarah now has massive medical bills, poor credit and is being contacted weekly by collection agencies," the complaint pointed out.
Several other men and a woman in Hartford and East Hartford were similarly sold supplemental policies when they asked for comprehensive insurance.
There was no response from Dominguez when he was issued a notice by the department that it would hold a hearing August on revoking his license. No criminal charges were pressed against him.
Related Stories:
Three arrested in Miami following insurance fraud probe
Workers’ comp scammer told to repay $25,000
