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Rockford Insurance Executive Charged with Defrauding Clients
ROCKFORD — A Rockford man was indicted today by a federal grand jury on fraud charges.
TODD J. FENDLER, 41, was charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud former insurance clients of Fendler’s businesses.
According to the indictment, Fendler controlled and operated several insurance-related businesses in Rockford, including Surplus Market Solutions LLC, Northern Underwriting Managers Inc., and Northern Illinois Insurance Agency Inc. The indictment alleges that Fendler obtained bank account information from businesses and individuals who had applied for insurance policies through Fendler’s companies, and that Fendler used that information to create fictitious checks purportedly issued by the applicants. Fendler deposited those fictitious checks, the indictment charges, into bank accounts of Surplus Market Solutions. The indictment identified two such checks: a check for $1,447 purportedly drawn upon a bank account of the Hollywood Wax Museum Myrtle Beach LLC, and a check for $5,205.79 purportedly drawn upon a bank account of the Beer Haus LLC.
Arraignment has been set for March 8, 2017, at 10:00 a.m., before U.S. Magistrate Judge Iain D. Johnston in Rockford.
The indictment was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and E. C. Woodson, Postal Inspector-in-Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Chicago.Â
Each count in the indictment carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and a maximum fine of $250,000. If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines, as well as restitution. The public is reminded that an indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
