INSURANCE

Beverly Hills Insurance Agent Convicted: Julian Barton, a Beverly Hills insurance agent, was convicted of 67 counts of grand theft late last month in connection with an insurance premium financing scam that cost investors nearly $4 million. Barton, who remains free on $150,000 bail, had been operating a bogus investment program for at least 15 years in which he promised about 100 investors double-digit returns, prosecutors say. But the scam collapsed in 1987 when Barton stopped paying interest and said he couldn’t return investor’s principal. Barton is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 12 and faces up to 12 years in state prison.