Mass. broker who forged clients’ signatures to steal $137K is going to prison

The man admitted to forging over 50 insurance policy applications.

A North Attleborough insurance broker who took nearly $137,000 in sales commissions by submitting fraudulent insurance applications was sentenced to federal prison on Tuesday, officials say.

The insurance broker, Bruno Francis Ragusa, 53, fabricated insurance applications for end-of-life policies using clients’ names and their banking information to pay for the policies without their knowledge, according to a statement from Rhode Island U.S. Attorney Zachary Cunha’s office.

Ragusa pleaded guilty in June to a charge of wire fraud, admitting that he forged clients’ electronic signatures on over 50 insurance policy applications, the statement said. He made sure that all policy correspondence was sent to him and not the clients.

Ragusa collected $137,000 in insurance sales commissions from his scheme, the office said. The court ordered him to pay a restitution of $70,000 to the insurance company, which is the balance of commissions paid to Ragusa that had not yet been recouped.

The insurance company repaid the victims Ragusa defrauded, officials said.

Ragusa was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison, authorities said, followed by two years of federal supervised release.

Lindsay Shachnow covers general assignment news for Boston.com, reporting on breaking news, crime, and politics across New England.