Vanessa Roberts Avery, U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut
James Keating, a resident of Paoli, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced to 20 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. The sentencing was handed down by U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in New Haven for defrauding his former employer, Allied World Insurance Company, of over $1.4 million.
Keating held the position of Assistant Vice President and surety bond claims handler at Allied World Insurance Company before transitioning to a similar role at Crum and Forster subsidiary U.S. Fire Insurance Company. During his tenure from 2017 to 2021, he handled claims on Allied World surety bonds through the company's offices in Farmington, Connecticut.
The court documents reveal that Keating employed two fraudulent methods against Allied World. First, he utilized a shell company named American Construction & Industrial LLC to charge the insurance company for unnecessary work that was not performed and retained the proceeds for himself. Additionally, he received kickbacks from vendors associated with Allied World through another entity he owned called Surety Risk Solutions (also known as “SRS” or “SR5”), unbeknownst to his employer. Furthermore, Keating had these vendors use Kodiak Asset Recovery—a company in which he had undisclosed ownership—for asset searches at inflated prices.
The fraudulent activities resulted in nearly $1 million gained through American Construction & Industrial LLC, more than $350,000 via kickbacks through Surety Risk Solutions, and approximately $125,000 through Kodiak Asset Recovery.
Judge Bolden has mandated Keating to pay restitution amounting to $1,226,603.97—this figure accounts for the total loss incurred by Allied World of $1,446,491.95 minus $219,887.98 that Keating had previously repaid following a civil judgment.
Keating entered a guilty plea to wire fraud on July 30th of last year.
The investigation into this matter was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David E. Novick.
