Press Release
Contact:
Timothy P. Verhey
ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY
PHONE: (616) 456-2404
HALF-BROTHERS PLEAD GUILTY TO CONSPIRING TO DEFRAUD METLIFE
December 2, 2008 -
Grand Rapids, Michigan – Half-brothers Anthony Tremain, 43, of Kentwood, and Randall
Banks, 50, of Swartz Creek, each pled guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and money
laundering, United States Attorney Donald A. Davis announced today. U.S. Attorney Davis was
joined in the announcement by Joseph A. Pirone, Jr., Inspector In Charge of the Detroit Division of
the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Special Agent in Charge Maurice Aouate, Internal Revenue
Service, Criminal Investigation.
At separate hearings yesterday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ellen S. Carmody, Tremain and Banks each admitted to collaborating to defraud insurer Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (“MetLife”) of over $400,000 over the course of 12 years. According to court records, the vehicle for the fraud was an annuity contract which required MetLife to pay Donald Tremain, Sr., Tremain’s and Banks’ father, monthly periodic payments, in recompense for serious injuries Mr. Tremain, Sr., had sustained in an automobile accident.
The annuity contract provided that MetLife’s duty to pay could be fulfilled upon the death of both Mr. Tremain, Sr., and his wife. By 1995, both Mr. Tremain, Sr. and his wife had died and, accordingly, MetLife’s contractual obligation to make payments ended. However, by submitting fraudulent change of address forms, identification documents, and other correspondence to MetLife, Tremain, Banks, and a third brother, Donald Tremain, Jr., persuaded MetLife that their deceased father was still alive, and that the insurer remained obligated to make monthly payments. According to records, MetLife sent those payments, which the brothers divided amongst themselves, until late 2006.
The maximum sentence for conspiracy to commit mail fraud and money laundering is five years’ imprisonment and a three-year period of supervised release. Tremain, Banks, and Tremain, Jr. – who entered a guilty plea to the same charge last month – may also be required to pay a fine up to $250,000, and to make restitution.
This case, prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy P. Verhey, is the result of a two year investigation by agents of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and IRS Criminal Investigation.
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