A swift conviction came Monday evening for former Connecticut insurance broker Earl O’Garro Jr., who was charged of swindling clients and lenders out of more than $1 million.
The federal jury deliberated just one hour before finding O’Garro, who reportedly used the money to pay for a Caribbean condominium and other luxury items, guilty. The charges include two counts of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud for lying on loan applications, forging email and misappropriating money by wire transfer, the
Hartford Courant reports.
The quick decision follows an equally quick trial, in which testimony lasted just two and a half days. O’Garro did not present a defense or testify in the preceding.
Previously, O’Garro had been a successful insurance professional. In 2010, he left S.H. Smith and Co. to found his own agency, Hybrid Insurance Group, which specialized in high-risk coverage. He was even able to attract a $250,000 investment from Tennant Risk Services owner Robert Sargent.
By all accounts, things appeared to be going well for Hybrid. O’Garro paid himself a six-figure salary, planned a destination wedding at the Ritz Carlton in Jamaica, had his suits tailored in the office, drove a $100,000 sedan and quickly moved headquarters into an $8,000-a-month suite in Hartford.
By 2013, however, Hybrid had stopped paying the premiums it collected from clients. O’Garro even misappropriated about $900,000 in premiums paid on policies owned by the city of Hartford, instructing the city treasurer to wire payments directly into his own account.
It was this latter crime that sparked the investigation that landed O’Garro in prison. Federal prosecutors Avi Perry and Michael Gustafson made a case against the broker, focusing on the period from April to September 2013.
In addition to withholding premium payments, O’Garro also created dummy business partnerships and forged an email exchange in order to trick a commercial lender into giving him more than $800,000. He also lied on an application for a $500,000 business assistance loan from the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development.
O’Garro then spent the money on a $1 million waterfront condominium in the Dominican Republic, as well as $19,000 in private school tuition for his children.
With this evidence against O’Garro, the jury was not swayed by public defender Tracy Hayes’ argument that O’Garro is a “nice guy” who hired incompetent employees that forced him to misappropriate money in a misguided attempt to save his business.
O’Garro will be sentenced March 7 for his crimes, which each carry a maximum sentence of up to 20 years. The insurance broker is likely to incur a lesser punishment, however, given his lack of a previous criminal record.
