2 Agents Charged in Insurance Scam

Two San Fernando Valley insurance agents have been charged with grand theft for allegedly bilking thousands of dollars from elderly victims by overcharging them for health insurance and persuading them to invest in a bogus company, investigators said Monday.

The agents--Eric P. Jacobs, 43, of Burbank, and Mitchell S. Horowitz, 39, of Northridge--preyed on elderly, often frail and lonely women, investigators said.

The yearlong investigation by state Department of Insurance investigators and the LAPD fraud unit indicates Jacobs and Horowitz may have bilked up to $400,000 from as many as nine clients over the last five years, investigators said. But some of the alleged victims have died, making it impossible to file charges in those cases. Jacobs has been charged with five counts of grand theft and Horowitz with four counts in connection with five victims who lost a total of about $80,000, said Dennis Ward, chief investigator for the state insurance department.