Man Gets 7 Years on Theft Charges
A former insurance claims representative has been sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to tax and theft charges in Ventura County Superior Court.
Marc Liberts, 33, of Agoura, pleaded guilty last month to diverting more than $50,000 in insurance payments to a bank account controlled by himself but bearing a name similar to that of a client whose claim had previously been settled.
Ventura County Deputy Dist. Atty. Eric Bond said Liberts’ former employer, Farmers Insurance Group, discovered the scheme after comparing the amounts paid to the client and the account, opened under a fictitious business name at a Ventura bank.
“Some good accounting found the discrepancy,” Bond said.
In addition to the sentence of seven years and eight months on charges of grand theft and failing to report the stolen money as income, Ventura County Superior Court Judge Bruce Clark ordered Liberts to pay more than $8,000 in restitution to the state Franchise Tax Board.
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