Local News in Brief : Ex-Adjuster Gets 5 Years in Embezzlement
A Simi Valley man was sentenced to five years in prison Wednesday for embezzling $837,156 from a Woodland Hills insurance company, authorities said.
Richard Alan Farquar, 42, a former claims adjuster for Aetna Life & Casualty, pleaded guilty Aug. 26 to one count of grand theft of more than $100,000, said Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Stephen Plafker. Farquar was sentenced Wednesday by Superior Court Judge David Horowitz.
Authorities said Farquar--while working for Aetna from April, 1987, to May of this year--wrote several checks, payable to phony individuals, and totaling $837,156, on company bank accounts. Authorities said he then deposited $754,156 in his bank account and gave the rest to two friends.
Pamela O’Weger, 38, of Saugus received $62,000, and Leonard Feller, 62, of Calabasas got $21,000, according to authorities. O’Weger and Feller were both charged in the scheme. O’Weger has pleaded innocent and faces a preliminary hearing Oct. 25. Feller died in August, Plafker said.
Most of the money was recovered, authorities said, but they could not provide an exact amount.
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