U.S. Attorney’s office seeks victims of indicted insurance agent
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The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Indiana is looking for potential victims of a former independent insurance agent in Schererville.
Thomas Lemmen was indicted by a grand jury in October on five counts of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.
According to the indictment, Lemmen allegedly hatched a scheme in which he wrote more than 1,000 fraudulent life insurance policies for individuals in northern Indiana and elsewhere without their knowledge and consent between at least February 2020 and August 2022.
U.S. Attorney Clifford Johnson’s office says Lemmen applied for and obtained the policies using the victims’ names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and by forging their digital signatures.
“With each fraudulent application, Lemmen authorized and caused the disclosure of the purported applicant’s sensitive and personal information to the insurance companies, including detailed medical and pharmaceutical records,” the indictment reads.
Lemmen allegedly worked to avoid being detected by paying a certain number of monthly premiums in order to keep the fraudulent policies from lapsing.
“Lemmen made such payments using dozens of different bank accounts he owned or controlled, including some accounts created for the purpose of paying premiums on fraudulent policies.”
The indictment says Lemmen received “millions of dollars in commissions to which he was not entitled” as a result of his scheme.
Four cases of Lemmen’s alleged activities are outlined in the indictment, including two where insurance applications were filed for individuals who were already deceased.
Johnson’s office is asking anyone who believes they have been a victim of Lemmen’s alleged scheme or has information relevant to the case to complete an online questionnaire.
A status conference in the case is scheduled for Feb. 3 in U.S. District Court in Hammond.