Three California men have been arrested for allegedly running a $4.8 million insurance and tax scam that targeted Navy service members.
Paul Flanagan, Ranjit Kalsi, and Gregory Lee Martin were arrested for allegedly operating a tax fraud and identity theft scam in San Diego County, according to California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and San Diego District Attorney Summer Stephan. A San Diego grand jury has issued a 69-count indictment against the three men, including a charge of conspiracy to commit a form of insurance fraud known as “twisting.” Twisting involves making misrepresentations to consumers to convince them to take out insurance policies.
According to prosecutors, the defendants operated a company, GO Navy Tax Services, out of a trailer located just outside of Naval Base San Diego. The business advertised free income-tax preparation services for military members. During the free tax-preparation service, the defendants allegedly obtained personal information from their victims and used it to open unauthorized bank accounts in the victims’ names. Those accounts were then used to pay insurance premiums on policies the defendants allegedly tricked their defendants into buying.
Flanagan, Kalsi and Martin allegedly made more than $2 million in commissions on the sales of nearly 5,000 applications for life insurance policies and annuity contracts.
“The victims of this scam were young women and men serving our country who were essentially tricked into signing up for something they didn’t need and couldn’t afford,” Stephan said. “Working with our law enforcement partners in California and at the Navy, we were able to shut down this operation, and we will work to get money back into the pockets of service members who were taken advantage of.”
