Former Health Insurance Executive Indicted

BOSTON—A former health insurance executive was indicted yesterday in federal court for mail fraud, wire fraud, and making false material statements to an insurance regulatory agency.

JEDEDIAH L. BRETTSCHNEIDER, 34, of Phoenix, Arizona, the former chief executive officer of Massachusetts-based Health Management Advisors, LLC, was charged in a five-count indictment on false statements he made in applications for licenses to sell insurance.

The indictment alleges that Brettschneider had pleaded guilty on two separate occasions to possession of marijuana: in New York in 1999 and in Georgia in 2000. The indictment also alleges that in April 2009, the New Hampshire Insurance Department brought administrative proceedings concerning two licenses held by Brettschneider’s company, Health Management Advisors, LLC.

It is alleged that beginning in approximately 2003, Brettschneider applied for insurance producer licenses in the states of Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island. On the applications he submitted to regulatory agencies in each of these states, Brettschneider allegedly falsely denied that he had ever been convicted of a crime. In addition, the indictment alleges that on an application he submitted in May 2009 to renew his Rhode Island license, Brettschneider falsely denied that any company of which he was an officer had ever been involved in an administrative proceeding regarding any professional or occupational license.

If convicted, Brettschneider faces up to 20 years' imprisonment on each count of the wire fraud and mail fraud and up to 10 years' imprisonment for each count of making false material statements to an insurance regulatory agency. Any period of incarceration would be followed by up to three years of supervised release for each count and a fine of up to $250,000.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Marjorie A. Franzman, Special Agent in Charge for the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General - Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations; Edward W. Maloney, Acting Regional Director of the U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration; and Robert Bethel, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd F. Braunstein of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit and Gregg D. Shapiro of Ortiz’s Civil Division.

The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.