Former Brea insurance agent embezzled nearly $600,000 from clients, is sentenced to 6 years in prison

A former Brea insurance agent who embezzled almost $600,000 from his clients’ retirement funds pleaded guilty Monday, Dec. 9, to multiple felony charges of theft, fraud and elder abuse.

Joseph Ramiro Garcia, 37, formerly of Brea, admitted to stealing from 18 victims, including a 91-year-old woman, according court records. He was sentenced to a six-year prison term and ordered to pay $459,721 in restitution, California Department of Insurance officials said in a news release

From February 2014 through February 2018, he acted acted as a financial adviser and stole about $586,900 from his clients, the agency said. Most of that money came from their IRA or 401(k) retirement accounts, according to court records.

The stolen funds were placed into a bank account controlled by Garcia, who promised his victims that their retirement funds would be rolled over into better-paying plans. Many of them considered Garcia a friend, according to investigators.

CDI officials discovered the embezzlement after representatives for Transamerica Premier Life Insurance Company reported fraud in policies Garcia had attempted to open with them, the state agency said in its release. Between December 2014 and January 2015, Garcia submitted seven life insurance applications to the company, causing it to issue over $50,000 in advance commissions, CDI officials said. Garcia pocketed about $20,000 from those payments.

The total loss was estimated by prosecutors at the end of last year at $649,253. Garcia used some of that money to pay for designer clothes, Disneyland season passes, restaurant bills and travel expenses, according to court records.

Garcia, who was arrested in September and lost his insurance agent license, was given credit for serving 166 days behind bars.

Staff writer Eric Licas contributed to this story.