Former insurance agent convicted after stealing $3.7 million from finance company
News: 2025 Press Release
LOS ANGELES — Formerly licensed insurance agent Tonja Van Roy, 59, who currently resides in Las Vegas, but operated an insurance agency based in Northridge, California, pleaded guilty today to one federal count of wire fraud after a Department of Insurance investigation revealed that she had stolen more than $3.7 million from a premium finance company named “AFCO Credit Corporation.”
The investigation was initiated after the Department received a complaint from the company, AFCO Credit Corporation, that Van Roy had committed insurance premium financing fraud on the company. The complaint stated Van Roy, through her insurance agency, submitted fictitious loan applications through AFCO's loan system, which prompted AFCO to send premium funding payments to Van Roy The Department of Homeland Security / Homeland Security Investigations also participated in this investigation.
The investigation revealed that from January of 2021 through December of 2023 Van Roy created and submitted dozens of fraudulent finance agreement forms to AFCO. These fraudulent finance agreement forms deceived AFCO into believing Van Roy had sold insurance policies to her clients, and that those clients were applying for a loan from AFCO to pay the premiums for those policies. AFCO approved the loans noted on the fraudulent finance agreement forms, and then deposited the loan proceeds into Van Roy’s trust account via electronic funds transfer. AFCO believed Van Roy would forward the loan proceeds to the insurance carrier noted on the loan application.
Unbeknownst to AFCO, almost all of the information noted on the fraudulent finance agreement forms was false. For example, the forms contained fictitious insurance policy numbers as well as forged electronic signatures for fictitious insureds. In addition, the forms noted a total of only two different addresses for dozens of different insureds, and both of those addresses are for homes rented by Van Roy.
In total, Van Roy received approximately $3.7 million in stolen payments from AFCO as a result of all of the fraudulent finance agreement forms she submitted to AFCO. Van Roy then used the stolen money to purchase extravagant items for herself and her family members. Since the AFCO loans required repayment within one year, some of the initial loans were repaid by Van Roy. However, the initial fraudulent loans were repaid with the funds Van Roy received from the subsequent fraudulent loans, similar to the pattern seen in a Ponzi scheme. After accounting for Van Roy’s repayment of some of the initial fraudulent loans, Van Roy currently owes AFCO approximately $1.8 million.
This case was prosecuted by the Major Frauds Section of the United States Attorney’s office in Los Angeles. Van Roy is scheduled to return to court for sentencing on March 31, 2025.
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Led by Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, the California Department of Insurance is the consumer protection agency for the nation's largest insurance marketplace and safeguards all of the state’s consumers by fairly regulating the insurance industry. Under the Commissioner’s direction, the Department uses its authority to protect Californians from insurance rates that are excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory, oversee insurer solvency to pay claims, set standards for agents and broker licensing, perform market conduct reviews of insurance companies, resolve consumer complaints, and investigate and prosecute insurance fraud. Consumers are urged to call 1-800-927-4357 with any questions or contact us at www.insurance.ca.gov via webform or online chat. Non-media inquiries should be directed to the Consumer Hotline at 800-927-4357. Teletypewriter (TTY), please dial 800-482-4833.
