Pa. Agent Meets 5 to 12 Year Prison Term

Pennsylvania Attorney General Jerry Pappert announced that a former Lancaster County insurance agent was sentenced to 5 to 12 years in state prison for reportedly bilking 71 elderly victims out of nearly $3 million in savings.

Pappert said Allen J. Perry, 45, of Lancaster, was sentenced by Lancaster County Judge Joseph Madenspacher to 5 to 12 years in prison to be followed by 12 years of probation and ordered to pay $2.57 million in restitution to his victims.

Pappert said that on Feb. 17 Perry pleaded guilty before Judge Madenspacher to 30 counts of security fraud. Perry was charged on Sept.18, 2002, by agents of the Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

Pappert said to gain access to unsuspecting elderly investors, Perry ran newspaper ads touting certificate of deposits paying three percent, then used “bait-and-switch” tactics to change the focus of the sales call to the bogus investments, promising returns of up to 15 percent.

Pappert said Perry lied to his victims by telling them that the investments were guaranteed and insured by Lloyds of London. Also, Perry only showed his customers the last two pages of an 18-page security agreement, where they had to sign their names.

According to Pappert, Perry targeted senior citizens with the scam robbing them of millions of dollars they needed for their retirement years.