Man booked with ID theft, fraud

• Advocate staff report
• Published: Jun 2, 2009 - Page: 5B

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An Abita Springs man accused of fraudulently obtaining an insurance producer’s license and using it to sell insurance to a person who did not exist was arrested by detectives with State Police’s Insurance Fraud and Auto Theft Unit Friday, State Police said.

The fraud began in 2007, when John Stephen Vaughn, 35, allegedly used the Social Security number of a 2-year-old child from Bogalusa to get a Social Security number and Wyoming driver’s license, State Police spokesman Sgt. Markus Smith said.

Vaughn then used those documents to obtain a insurance producer’s license through the Louisiana Department of Insurance, Smith said. Vaughn then sold a $212,000 annuity to an imaginary person through Allianz Life and received a $20,000 commission from the sale, Smith said.

By the time Allianz Life realized the policy was fraudulent, Vaughn had already withdrawn the $20,000 from the bank account he had opened under a false name, Smith said.

Detectives used MySpace and bank surveillance photos to verify that Vaughn was the culprit, Smith said.

Vaughn visited several bank branches and used fake addresses in multiple parishes to perpetuate this fraud, so he is being booked in several parishes, Smith said.

On Friday, Vaughn was arrested in Abita Springs and booked into the Livingston Parish Jail on one count of identity fraud, one count of bank fraud, four counts of issuing worthless checks and one count of felony theft, Smith said.

Vaughn will be booked in Jefferson Parish Prison on one count of identity theft, one count of bank fraud and one count of felony theft, Smith said.

In East Baton Rouge Parish Prison, Vaughn he will be booked on two counts of filing false public records, one count of identity theft and two counts of insurance fraud, Smith said.