A Nevada woman has been sentenced to 50 months in federal prison for defrauding a lender of $3.7 million through fraudulent fine art insurance policy applications. Tonja Van Roy, 59, who previously operated an insurance agency in Northridge, was sentenced by United States District Judge Stephen V. Wilson and ordered to pay $1,880,237 in restitution.
Van Roy pleaded guilty on January 6 to one count of wire fraud. Court documents reveal that she owned Pegasus Insurance, a company specializing in art collection insurance policies. Between January 2021 and December 2023, Van Roy submitted numerous fraudulent finance agreements to AFCO Credit Corp., an Illinois-based provider of insurance premium finance, falsely claiming they were for policies sold to art galleries.
The fraudulent scheme involved creating fake insurance policy numbers and forging electronic signatures for non-existent insureds. The borrowed funds were used to support her lifestyle, including payments on multiple credit cards. To cover up the scam when loans came due, Van Roy submitted additional false finance agreements and used new loan proceeds to make it appear as though previous loans had been repaid.
Prosecutors highlighted Van Roy’s extensive experience in the insurance industry as a factor that enabled her to carry out the scheme undetected for years. “[Van Roy] embarked on a sophisticated, multiyear scheme to borrow fraudulently over $3.7 million dollars using her insider’s knowledge of the insurance industry,” they stated in a sentencing memorandum.
The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations and the California Department of Insurance. Assistant United States Attorney Andrew Brown from the Major Frauds Section prosecuted the case.
