WA Life Insurance Salesman Earns Several Federal Charges

A Washington financial services and life insurance salesman is now in custody and facing numerous federal fraud charges for diverting payments on a life insurance policy into a personal account, and providing false documents and fraudulent statements “to induce the sale.”  Then to top it off, he is alleged to have faked a suicide in what appears to have been some sort of attempt to escape justice.

According to court documents and The Enumclaw Courier-Herald, Aaron Travis Beaird, who worked for Team Financial Services, is being charged with wire fraud, filing a fraudulent death claim and artifice to defraud by falsely representing a life insurance policy.

The document stated, “To date, investigative inquires indicate that Aaron Travis Beaird defrauded at least five clients of approximately $2 million dollars.”

The U.S. Attorney stated that Beaird “induced D.B. to purchase a new AUL (American United Life Insurance Company) policy with purportedly more advantageous terms and conditions.”

D.B. is a retired Northwest Airlines pilot who has known Beaird for over 10 years.

When the two first met, Beaird was working for Beneficial Life, from which he sold D.B. a life insurance policy.

Beaird also told D.B. that the policy was for 20 years, when it was actually set to expire in 10 years, 2013.

Once D.B. discovered the policy was about to expire, he confronted Beaird, who claimed it was a mistake. Upon calling the company however, D.B. was told it was not a mistake.

Now for all the numbers. In May of 2011, Beaird told D.B. he felt bad and wanted to make it up to him with a new offer. This time around he wanted to sell him a $2 million life insurance policy from AUL with a 20% or $600,000 payout in the first year followed by 6.5% each year after the first.

Beaird convinced D.B to take the money for the $500,000 premium directly out of his Scott Trade IRA. He then persuaded D.B. to rollover the Scott Trade IRA into a self-directed IRA in September of 2011. D.B. thought the money was to remain in the self-directed IRA until Beaird delivered the new policy. D.B. was told once the policy was delivered, “Beaird was to make arrangements to purchase an annuity. The annuity could be used to purchase life insurance without tax consequences.” Of course, that was a lie, too.

The money from a Scott Trade IRA was transferred to a self-directed IRA. Unknown to D.B., $500,000 from the self-directed IRA was transferred into an entity known as Ideal Ventures LP, which was controlled by Beaird. He used a portion of the $500,000 to pay the monthly premium payment that amounted to a total of about $200,000 to AUL and the balance of the $500,000 is “unaccounted for.”

Then, on May 1, 2012, Beaird submitted a fraudulent death claim to AUL claiming D.B. had died of “acute cardiopulmonary arrest” a day earlier, on April 30^th.

Afterward, AUL agreed to pay the claim and sent a condolence letter to D.B.’s home. D.B. was obviously confused upon receiving the letter, and once he showed it to Beaird he claimed it was yet another mistake.

At the end of June, D.B. discovered his IRA account had been emptied.

According to the charging document, the managing partner of Team Financial Partners, Kent Binning, confronted Beaird with the fraudulent death claim and he admitted to “falsifying the claim.”

Beaird disappeared June 21^st, with his vehicle being discovered on June 23^rd at the Deception Pass Bridge. A note in the vehicle stated Beaird had jumped off the bridge. And according to documents, Beaird also sent similar notes to “some of the purported victims of the scheme. One of the letters was sent to D.B. The letter references the fraudulent policies and admits responsibility for D.B.s losses. The letter was signed ‘Travis the scam man.’”

What an appropriate name for the bridge where he chose to “kill himself.”

According to the EnumclawPatch, in one of the letters he is said to have sent to his victims, Beaird wrote, “…I am sorry to inform you that the money you entrusted in me is lost and I can not get it back I am so sorry for my terrible choices I used your money what a mess I have caused I just got stuck in a trap of stealing from one client to pay another obviously a terrible idea from the start please know it all started a long time ago I have lied about all surrender fees and % rates for years know that you do not deserve the grief that I have caused but I am writing you this letter to let you know the problem goes a lot deeper than just the money I have taken and lost of yours I have been lying for along time and have lost in one way or another a lot of the peoples money…”

Rather than committing suicide, Beaird reportedly boarded a flight June 25^th from Seattle to Philadelphia and then arrived in Glasgow, Scotland, on June 26^th.

That didn’t last too long however, since Beaird is currently in custody at the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac and had a detention hearing on July 9^th.