Livermore insurance executive pleads guilty to insurance fraud charges

OAKLAND — A former insurance executive pleaded guilty Friday to conspiring to commit insurance fraud through an insurance company he founded in Livermore, resulting in more than $20 million in losses and the collapse of two insurance companies, authorities said.

Jasbir Thandi, a 69-year-old resident of San Francisco, was charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit insurance fraud after being indicted by a grand jury in 2023, according to a news release from the Department of Justice Northern District of California. He was the fourth defendant to plead guilty in this case.

“Thandi and his co-conspirators’ scheme was far-reaching and had devastating financial consequences, including the collapse of two insurance companies and millions in losses to hundreds of victims,” said United States Attorney Craig H. Missakian. “Together with our law enforcement partners, we work tirelessly to ensure that individuals who commit insurance and other forms of fraud are held accountable, and this case is an important example of our efforts.”

Three co-defendants, Sandeep Sahota, Jaspreet Padda and Gunjan Aggarwal, previously pleaded guilty to the same charges, prosecutors said. Thandi faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count.

Thandi was the founder of Global Century Insurance Brokers, a Livermore-based insurance brokerage that helped manage insurance company Global Hawk Risk Retention Group, prosecutors said. Thandi conspired with others beginning around May 2018 to create fake financial records stating that Global Hawk had higher capital and reserves than they did. They then submitted these records, which included fake brokerage records and bank statements, to the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation, which was the company’s insurance regulator.

Regulators discovered the fraud in 2020 and declared Global Hawk liquidated and insolvent, prosecutors added.

“Today’s guilty plea reflects the FBI’s commitment to holding accountable those who manipulate financial records and abuse positions of trust for personal gain. By misrepresenting assets and misappropriating funds, Thandi not only misled regulators but also defrauded his company’s customers,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Sanjay Virmani. “The FBI and our partners will continue to investigate and bring to justice those who exploit consumers through corporate fraud.”

Prosecutors further said that Thandi used $1.5 million of funds from Global Hawk for his own personal use, including to purchase a vehicle and a house. He also used funds that are legally required to be retained by the company as insurance reserves to purchase and sell stocks, prosecutors added.

In 2016, Thandi took out a $6.4 million line of credit in Global Hawk’s name. The line of credit was later upped to $14 million, and it had not been approved by the company’s board of directors, prosecutors said. Thandi again applied for an unauthorized $14.75 million line of credit under Global Hawk’s name in 2017.

Thandi also conspired to create false financial documents for a Houston General Insurance Exchange, a Texas-based insurance company, to falsely show that the company had millions of dollars in reserves and assets despite not having the level of reserves required by Texas law, prosecutors said. These documents were submitted to the Texas Department of Insurance.

“Criminals who would use the U.S. mail to commit fraud should know that postal inspectors and our federal law enforcement partners remain committed to protecting the public from financial crime,” said Stephen M. Sherwood, inspector in charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, San Francisco Division.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

Thandi is currently out of custody on bail. He is scheduled to next appear in court Aug. 29 for a status hearing on sentencing.