Earl O'Garro Jr., CEO and owner of Hybrid Insurance Agency LLC in Hartford, Connecticut was convicted by federal jury of wire fraud and mail fraud for a multi-pronged scheme stealing more than $1.7 million from a premium financing lender, the City of Hartford (whose insurance premiums O'Garro diverted to buy a Dominican Republic condominium and pay private school tuition), and the Connecticut DECD through a false $250,000 loan application.

Hybrid Insurance Agency LLC / Earl O'Garro Jr. — $1.7 Million Multi-Target Fraud, Hartford, Connecticut (2022)

Outcome: Earl O'Garro Jr., President, CEO, and co-owner of Hybrid Insurance Agency LLC (doing business as Hybrid Insurance Group) in Hartford, Connecticut, was convicted by federal jury of wire fraud and mail fraud for a multi-target scheme that stole more than $1.7 million from a premium financing company, the City of Hartford, and the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD).

Hybrid Insurance Agency LLC, headquartered in Hartford, specialized in placing wholesale and specialty line insurance products for commercial clients. Earl O'Garro Jr. exploited the broker's position as a trusted intermediary to execute three simultaneous fraud schemes beginning around April 2013.

The first scheme involved premium financing fraud: Capital Premium Financing, Inc. provides loans to insurance buyers to finance premium payments, disbursing funds to brokers for remittance to carriers. O'Garro induced Capital Premium Financing to release $849,282.55 in premium payments to Hybrid for purported insurance policies, diverting those funds rather than transmitting them to carriers.

The second and largest scheme targeted the City of Hartford directly. Hybrid served as a wholesale broker for certain City of Hartford insurance policies. O'Garro directed the City to transfer $868,244 to Hybrid, ostensibly for premium payments. Of this amount, $441,900 was supposed to be remitted to an insurer providing excess liability coverage and $228,097 to a second insurer — but O'Garro diverted both premium amounts to his own use rather than paying the carriers, leaving the City without the insurance coverage it believed it had purchased.

The third scheme involved a fraudulent loan application to the Connecticut DECD for a $500,000 business development loan. O'Garro submitted falsified financial information and DECD approved and mailed a $250,000 check to Hybrid. O'Garro used these public economic development funds to make a down payment on a million-dollar condominium in the Dominican Republic and to pay tuition at his children's private school.

Primary Source: DOJ District of Connecticut — Insurance Agency Owner Convicted of Stealing More Than $1.7 Million