A Spooner, Wis., and St. Paul resident is accused of forging documents and stealing the identity of a deceased client with the purpose of taking at least $46,769 from his estate.
Linda A. Brost, 61, was charged Tuesday in Ramsey County District Court with six felony counts, including insurance fraud, theft by swindle and identity theft. Brost was arrested Tuesday morning when the Minnesota Department of Commerce Insurance Fraud Division — assisted by the St. Paul
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Police Department, Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office and Washburn County Sheriff’s Office — executed search warrants at her St. Paul and Spooner residences.
According to the criminal complaint:
Brost was hired by Arthur Fischbach to draft his last will and testament. After his death in 2005, Brost used a fraudulent document in an attempt to access about $140,000 in Fischbach’s account. The attempt resulted in the Supreme Court of Minnesota suspending Brost’s license to practice law.
In 2010, Jackson National Life Insurance sent letters to Fischbach using Brost’s address to notify him that his annuities were nearing their maturity date. Jackson National received two signed validity letters, one for each policy, purportedly signed by Arthur Fischbach and witnessed by Brost. In 2011, Brost created a checking account for the Trust of Arthur Fischbach with herself identified as trustee. Brost later created an e-mail address to communicate with Jackson National, first for direct deposit of the monthly annuity payments and later to request information for full surrender of the annuity.
The Commerce Department uncovered Brost’s actions during a routine review of information provided by Jackson National.
“We take financial fraud very seriously and this criminal scheme is no exception,” Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said in a news release. “I want to thank the Minnesota Department of Commerce’s Insurance Fraud Unit for their diligence and hard work to bring this case forward.”
