A Fort Smith man has been sentenced to five years in prison after admitting to creating two fictitious companies in a scheme to defraud insurance customers.
Samuel Bowron Phillips, 41, was sentenced Wednesday before Chief U.S. Judge P.K. Holmes III in Fort Smith, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Kenneth Elser of the Western District of Arkansas.
Phillips was ordered to three years of supervised release on one count each of mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. The sentences are to run concurrently.
He must also pay about $1.6 million in restitution to victims who were affected between March 2013 and November 2015, the release states.
Elser said Phillips withdrew funds from annuity and insurance policies without the customers’ consent or knowledge, using that money for personal use.
Phillips admitted to creating two companies — Stevens Financial Asset Management and Paradigm Financial Parters LLC — and used a fake name to hide his involvement, the U.S. attorney said.
Phillips was indicted by a federal grand jury in March and pleaded guilty in June.