Selah Man Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering

A man from Selah and a former insurance agent has plead guilty in Yakima County Superior Court after being charged with money laundering and 1st Degree Theft following an investigation by the Washington State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler's Criminal Investigation Unit.

AFTER BEING ACCUSED OF TAKING THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS HE'S FINED ONLY A SMALL AMOUNT

Jason Eaton faces 60-days of home detention and he's been ordered to pay $100 restitution. They say Eaton, from July to November of 2019 was for American Family Insurance. He was accused of siphoning off $24,162.24 from a trust fund used to store premiums from clients, which would then be transferred to American Family Corporate.

AMERICAN FAMILY CONTINUED TO COVER PEOPLE EVEN THOUGH THEY WEREN'T GETTING PAID

A press release says "American Family tried, on multiple occasions, to collect $24,162.24 in policy premiums for 33 clients but was unable to collect any funds from Eaton’s premium trust account." Despite not receiving payment from Eaton, American Family continued to give insurance coverage to 33 clients. They say "ultimately, Eaton failed to remit $23,450.54 to American Family and was referred to the Office of the Insurance Commissioner."

EATSEla ON'S LICENSE WAS REMOVED BEFORE THE INVESTIGATION

Investigators say Eaton's license was revoked before the investigation was started.
When the investigators did start looking closely at Eaton they served a search warrant on Eaton’s bank accounts where they found he had been taking money from client accounts and transferring it to his personal account along with other business accounts instead of allowing the premium payments to be collected by American Family.
MORE TOP STORIES FROM LANCE:

• Yakima Man Lucky To Be Alive After Near Cougar Attack
• The Top 3 Preferred Ice Cream Flavors in Washington State
• 3 Top Counties in WA Where People Are Overdosing and Dying