California Man Admits to Viatical Fraud

A Rancho Mirage man pleaded guilty for his role in cheating 1,600 investors out of $95 million in a scheme involving bogus purchases of insurance policies from the terminally ill. David Laing, 53, pleaded guilty in federal court in New York to three counts of securities and mail fraud. He faces up to 20 years in prison and $1.5 million in fines. The Securities and Exchange Commission also filed a related civil suit against Laing in the same court. During the plea hearing, Laing, a former personnel analyst at UC Riverside, said he started a company last year called Personal Choice Opportunities that falsely claimed to conduct what he called viatical settlements. Under such settlements, someone who is terminally ill, known as a viator, sells the death benefits payable under his life insurance policy to an investor. Laing admitted that his company never engaged in any such settlements and that, instead, he and co-conspirators pocketed the money or used it to cover expenses. He told the court he had returned $22 million.