Former Northridge agent imprisoned for $3.7 million fine art insurance scam

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Bilal A. Essayli, U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California | Department of Justice

Former Northridge agent imprisoned for $3.7 million fine art insurance scam

A Nevada woman has been sentenced to 50 months in federal prison for defrauding a lender of $3.7 million through false applications for fine art insurance policies. Tonja Van Roy, 59, from Las Vegas and formerly operating an insurance agency in Northridge, was sentenced by United States District Judge Stephen V. Wilson. In addition to her prison term, she was ordered to pay $1,880,237 in restitution.

Van Roy pleaded guilty on January 6 to one count of wire fraud. Court documents reveal that she owned Pegasus Insurance, a company based in Northridge specializing in insurance for art collections. Between January 2021 and December 2023, Van Roy submitted fraudulent finance agreements to AFCO Credit Corp., a provider of insurance premium finance based in Lake Forest, Illinois. These agreements falsely claimed to finance insurance policies sold to art galleries.

The investigation showed that Van Roy fabricated insurance policy numbers and forged electronic signatures for fictitious insureds. She used the borrowed funds for personal expenses, including payments on numerous credit cards. To cover up the fraud when loans came due, she submitted additional fraudulent agreements and used new loan proceeds to give the appearance of repaying old loans.

Prosecutors described her actions as "a sophisticated, multiyear scheme" leveraging her extensive knowledge of the insurance industry gained over more than 25 years as an agent.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the California Department of Insurance. Assistant United States Attorney Andrew Brown from the Major Frauds Section prosecuted the case.