Former Ohio insurance agent gets prison term for mail fraud

COLUMBUS — Mary Jo Hudson, the Ohio Department of Insurance director, announced that former Maineville insurance agent William R. Appleton II, was sentenced in United States District Court to 97 months imprisonment for one count of mail fraud and 60 months imprisonment, to be served concurrently, for one count of income tax evasion.

Appleton also was ordered to pay $6,281,252 in restitution to his victims, including $1,099,267 to the Internal Revenue Service. Last March, Appleton pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and one count of tax evasion after he defrauded at least 10 victims out of nearly $5 million.

A joint investigation conducted by ODI, the FBI and the IRS revealed that from 2003 to 2007, Appleton posed as an investment adviser and convinced insurance clients to invest inheritance proceeds and money from their insurance products in the financial markets.

Instead of investing his customer’s money as promised, Appleton transferred the funds to his personal bank accounts and used the funds for personal living expenses, the operation of his companies, and payment to earlier investors who were seeking to withdraw funds from their accounts.

Appleton surrendered his insurance license May 2, 2008.