The Region - News from Jan. 17, 1986

Four former agents of a Chicago insurance firm were indicted by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles on charges that they collected $1.1 million by filing claims based on phony death certificates. Named in the indictment alleging mail fraud and interstate transportation of property taken by fraud were Jacob Fell, 50, of Mission Hills; Gerges Soliman, 45, of Culver City; Joseph Sabbagh, 39, of West Covina, and Ignacio Cano, 44, of Pico Rivera. Assistant U.S. Atty. David W. Wiechert said the four were aided by another former insurance agent, William Ekaireb, who supplied the phony death certificates. Ekaireb was sentenced last May to 10 years in federal prison for his involvement in the scheme, Wiechert said. Fell and Sabbagh face a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison and a fine of $32,000. Cano and Soliman face a maximum penalty of 35 years imprisonment and a $23,000 fine.