Former Controller for Chicago Insurance Company Arrested on Federal Fraud Charge for Allegedly Stealing $5 Million in Company Funds

CHICAGO — The former controller of a Chicago insurance company has been arrested on a federal fraud charge for allegedly stealing $5 million in company funds.

From approximately October 2018 to June 2020, KEVIN J. MIX initiated and authorized approximately 35 wire transfers from the insurance company to his bank accounts and the accounts of shell companies that he created, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District in Chicago.  Mix attempted to conceal the scheme by making false entries in the company’s records, creating fake emails, and making false statements to representatives of the insurance company and the company’s bank, the complaint states. 

Mix allegedly used the stolen money to purchase a Lexus RX sport-utility vehicle, a Mercedes-Benz automobile, and real estate in Chicago and Columbus, Ohio. 

The complaint charges Mix, 41, of Chicago, with one count of wire fraud.  He was arrested Tuesday and remains in federal custody.  U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger scheduled a detention hearing for Aug. 13, 2020, at 1:30 p.m.

The complaint and arrest were announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Emmerson Buie, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider.

The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.  Wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison.  If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.