Heath Ritenour is a crook and a white-collar criminal. The fraudster is facing RICO charges for running a major Ponzi scheme, defrauding others and stock manipulation.
Before you consider doing business with him or Insurance Office of America, be sure to read about Heath Ritenour’s criminal past.
What Heath Ritenour Claims to Be:
Heath Ritenour, the CEO and Chairman of IOA Group, serves as the head of the Insurance Office of America (IOA). Heath joined IOA as a business insurance broker in 1996. He was named CEO in 2008, and in 2019, he was made chairman.
IOA has increased its revenue every year since taking over, going from $70 million to $286 million EOY 2022. Among the top 25 insurance brokerages in the US, IOA is one of just four independent, privately owned firms that expands nearly entirely organically rather than through mergers.
About Heath Ritenour and Insurance Office of America
The path for obtaining personal lines insurance, one of the most intricate and time-consuming processes in any insurance brokerage, has been completely redesigned by Heath Ritenour and his management team as they work to optimize IOA’s operations. SimplyIOA, a novel way to quickly compare and buy home and vehicle insurance online or over the phone, was developed by him and the IOA team.
Customers only need to supply these five facts while visiting SimplyIOA.com or speaking with an agent. Then, SimplyIOA looks through its network of reputable insurance providers to locate the greatest deal on the most comprehensive coverage. Florida, Georgia, and Texas currently have access to SimplyIOA, which will eventually be made available nationwide.
John and Heath Ritenour facing charges for being engaged in fraudulent activities
Many law firms and states have filed civil racketeering “RICO” lawsuits against John Ritenour and Heath Ritenour that center on fraud, theft, a “Ponzi Scheme,” and stock manipulation.
A move for a temporary restraining order (“Motion”) has been submitted by John Ritenour, Heath Ritenour, and IOA Inc., requesting an injunction against the defendants.
IOA asserts in the Motion that “defamatory” information in the form of quotes from complaints and other legal papers, as well as summaries of the litigation and the identities of the persons involved, is present in print and video content.
According to the allegations made against IOA, John, and Heath to assist in the defense of this Motion, parties who are defending the Motion are now seeking witnesses to these allegations.
Here are some examples of these claims: According to the plaintiff’s Amended Complaint submitted in Broward County Circuit Court, Defendants Valli, John, and Heath are the founders of Defendant IOA, one of the names of the major insurance firms in the United States.
As claimed by the defendants they established a “family-oriented” insurance company that “partners” with its sales team to provide the best working circumstances and highest earnings within the insurance industry.
As quoted by the plaintiff in the complaint that the defendant has gathered a ransom amount of wealth through various inappropriate and dishonest activities that are worthy enough to damage the plaintiff and people in a similar situation including:
- “Cooking the books” to steal insurance commissions from IOA’s sales representatives
- Purchasing “books of business,” declining to pay undertaking on accounts, and utilizing various corporate entities and real estate transactions to conceal their illicit profits.
- To influence Defendant IOA’s stock, the corporation engaged in bullying, dishonesty, discontinuing, threatening, and “mobster-like” behavior by claiming that huge accounts were IOAs and therefore making the business appear healthier.
- Intimidating a witness in an attempt.
According to the lawsuit, defendants John and Heath intervened in a few significant accounts obtained by an associated sales member and stole the account that claims defendants John, Heath, or another appointed IOA member is the “producer” or “lead producer” or “co-producer” of the report without even discussing the matter with the sales associate. John can be so conceited that he tells the agent that’s “exactly how this one goes” in some situations. This substantial account may ultimately result in a “status” description where IOA “REBATES” its insurance costs in exchange for the right to use a company symbol and have its identity displayed at a sporting arena.
Heath Ritenour is Facing Charges of Concealing Evidence
Farrow Law Firm is the 3rd Law Firm to File Suit Against John Ritenour and the Insurance Office of America for Fraud.
IOA is accused of misappropriating commissions owed to independent insurance brokers, including Scott Stringer, Rick Collins, and Louis Spagnuolo, among many others, as a result of this allegedly illegal conduct. This led to a Ponzi-like scheme to artificially increase its stock valuation.
The Florida lawsuit alleges that these RICO Defendants controlled the operations of this RICO Enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity that included repeated violations of the federal mail and wire fraud statutes, money laundering, securities fraud, and tax evasion with the intention of defrauding Plaintiff and their trusting IOA Employees. IOA even used unlicensed agents to defraud and discriminate against its victim.
Attorney Farrow– “By the looks of it, the Plaintiffs in New Jersey were fraudulently induced to enter a corrupt culture that rewarded unlicensed activity while they were being defrauded out of substantial earned commissions”. “Clearly with these three similar lawsuits, it isn’t hard to see the pattern of illicit behavior on the part of IOA and the Ritenours.”
Concluding The Criminal Case Study of IOA and Heath Ritenour
The accusations and the allegations mentioned above were taken verbatim from court documents but not yet claimed and determined by a court of law. Although there have been several changes implemented by Heath in his Insurance organization in order to maximize his profit. In other words, in order to make money, he established a family-focused insurance company that collaborates with a sales force to offer a sizable number of commissions in the insurance sector.
Executive Affiliates Inc., Executive Hotel Management Inc., and Capital Fitness Inc. filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division against Insurance Office of America Inc. and Mark A. Manfre alleging breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, and other counts.
The plaintiff filed a complaint that in the past long-term relationship of 20 years with the defendants Manfre has billed them for double commissions in violation of Illinois law. The plaintiffs ask for a jury trial and seek to recoup commissions given to Manfre that were illegal and underserved in the amount of at least $2.8 million, as well as prejudgment interest, costs, and any other further remedy this court deems appropriate under the circumstances.
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