Insurance Salesman Who Cheated Clients Sentenced

A former insurance salesman was sentenced to nine years in state prison Monday for masterminding a sophisticated scheme to steal money that people thought was paying for insurance policies or being invested for their retirement.

William Scott Rufenacht Jr., 45, of San Diego, was also ordered to pay $197,409 in restitution after pleading guilty in June to five counts of grand theft and one count of burglary.

Struggling to find words to describe the exploitative nature of the crimes, San Diego Municipal Judge William H. Woodward told Rufenacht to remember the voices of his victims, most of whom will be affected for the rest of their lives.

“Bill Rufenacht is a liar and a thief,” said Carl Goering, who lost $5,000, mainly because he said he entrusted “a real smooth talker” to manage his affairs.

“I don’t think I can ever forgive you,” especially after my husband treated you like a friend, said Shizuko Goodman, who gave tearful testimony in court.

Goodman said that even after her husband died earlier this year, Rufenacht consoled the widow and then stole another $2,000 of her money.

Rufenacht was found to be collecting premiums on insurance policies that had long since elapsed, according to a district attorney’s investigation.

The former securities dealer and insurance salesman had set up a phony 800 phone number where he or his roommates could answer questions from the customers he was ripping off.

Investigators also say that Rufenacht rented several post office boxes and changed the addresses on a number of policies so the insurance companies would not be able to contact customers and inform them that their policies had expired.

Boxes of stationary from both real and fake companies were discovered in Rufenacht’s house and evidence in the case indicates he used this material to fool his clients into believing that their policies were fine.

Arguing that Rufenacht’s theft from Goodman was “particularly horrifying,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Jeff Brodrick told victims after the hearing that they probably would not be getting any of their money back despite his order for restitution.

Rufenacht asked not to be sent to prison Monday so he could work on selling his house to obtain money that would be used to pay back his victims. But Brodrick urged the judge not to delay his punishment any longer: “I think virtually every time he opens his mouth he lies.”