Huntington Beach Man Gets 6 Months for Fraud

Huntington Beach Man Gets 6 Months for Fraud

by Contributing Editor

A 54-year-old Huntington Beach man was sentenced Friday to six months in jail for stealing about $132,000 from his clients as a licensed public adjuster.

John Schoon pleaded guilty Aug. 16 to three counts of embezzlement by fiduciary of trust and a count of forgery, all felonies.

As part of a plea deal with prosecutors a dozen other felony charges were dropped.

Schoon was ordered to pay $52,311.14 in restitution, according to court records. He asked for a week to report to jail, but the request was denied and he was taken into custody Friday with credits for 10 days already served. His request to apply for home confinement was also denied.

Schoon has paid $12,000 in restitution, according to the California Department of Insurance.

With his World Wide Public Adjusters company, Schoon forged the signature of at least one client on a check and also forged endorsement guarantee stamps on behalf of the client’s mortgage company, insurance officials said.

Schoon lost his insurance license in January 2015, but he kept doing business after he got a license under the name of his wife. That license was revoked in September 2016.

But Schoon still continued working as a public adjuster at least one more time, using the license number of a former colleague, officials said.

Instead of turning over claim proceeds to clients he pocketed the money, officials said.

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All credit goes to Contributing Editor
Originally published on https://mynewsla.com