Photo: Stock Image
Los Angeles, CA – On August 18, 2022, Francis Okyere (70) was charged with multiple counts of insurance fraud, 17 felony counts of identity theft and grand theft by false pretenses. He appeared in Los Angeles County Court for sentencing on December 7, 2022. Okyere pled no contest on all charges, and was sentenced to 2 years in County Jail and to pay restitution in full.
The Department of Insurance began an investigation after one of Okyere’s ex-relatives filed a complaint. In the complaint the ex-relative reported that Okyere had committed identity theft on multiple people. He used these stolen identities to open a new insurance agency.
After the investigation concluded it was determined that Okyere had in fact stolen the identity of 4 individuals to open Cyber Access Insurance Agency. He also used these stolen identities to apply for small business loans and paycheck protection loans to fund the fraudulent business.
Paycheck Protection Program Loans and Small Business Administration Loans were created by the federal government to assist small businesses that were affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic. Okyere was able to secure these loans using 2 of the stolen identities totaling in the amount of $38,963.
Okyere also attempted to ask for forgiveness on the loans using the same stolen identities.
This is the second time Okyere has been investigated for fraud. In 2019 he was found guilty of grand theft in the amount of $65,186. The Department of Insurance Investigations found that in this case Okyere had stolen insurance premiums from small businesses. He was ordered to surrender his insurance license in 2019.
