A former Carpinteria man was found guilty Tuesday of grand theft, elder abuse, money laundering and burglary for a “senior scam” defrauding at least nine people of about $1.2 million, according to the California Department of Insurance.
That office and the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office investigated the case for about 15 months before arresting Brett E. Lovett, now 53, in October 2017.
Lovett’s jury trial started earlier this month in Superior Court, and the guilty verdict was reached Tuesday. His sentencing hearing was scheduled for May 9.
Lovett is a former licensed insurance agent from Camarillo who lived in Carpinteria from 2011 to 2016, when the crimes were committed, according to Department of Insurance investigators.
“Several of his victims were senior citizens whom he met and befriended at a place of worship in Carpinteria. Other victims sought legal advice from Lovett through his legal aid information business,” officials said in a statement Tuesday.
“Victims entrusted Lovett with their money for proposed investments that never existed, or for financial management purposes. Lovett then misappropriated the money for his own personal use and to repay some of his victims, sometimes using his power of attorney and promissory notes to embezzle funds from victims.
“Lovett has a history of embezzling money from members of the places of worship he attends. In 2007, doing business as Northwest Asset Fund, he was ordered to pay more than $675,900 in restitution, fines and sanctions by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Lovett never paid the fines or restitution. The CFTC entered a permanent injunction against Lovett, who never registered with the CFTC. Between October 2002 and August 2005, Lovett fraudulently solicited money from individuals, purportedly to trade commodity futures, through false promises of high returns from a low-risk investment.”
Lovett’s insurance license expired in 2000, and at the time of the crimes, “he was giving financial advice which he was not licensed to give,” Department of Insurance representatives said.