Isidro Santillan, 54, of Pacoima, was sentenced to three years in state prison and agreed to pay more than $133,000 in restitution to multiple victims. For more than two years Santillan embezzled over $100,000 from clients, pocketed premium money and created phony documents leaving his clients at great financial risk Santillan pleaded no contest to two felony counts of grand theft and multiple acts of embezzlement.

The Department of Insurance launched an investigation in late 2012 after receiving complaints about Santillan’s business practices regarding the sale of commercial auto, general liability, and worker’s compensation insurance and bonds. Some of his victims discovered canceled checks that exceeded the cost of the insurance policy they had agreed to purchase.

Investigators said that Santillan, aka Art Sanchez, issued premium checks that did not require the payer’s signature, and then instead of sending these premiums to his clients’ insurers, he cashed the checks for his own personal use. Santillan did not forward premium payments to purchase policies for his clients, which left his victims at risk for uninsured losses. Santillan attempted to cover up his theft by providing both falsified and legitimate certificates of insurance and premium finance agreements. In some instances, he allegedly made partial premium payments but the policies were later canceled by insurers due to lack of full payment.

This case was prosecuted by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office-Consumer Protection Unit.