A former Oklahoma insurance agent faces a pair of felony charges for allegedly defrauding a couple out of more than $40,000 through a fictional company.

Richard Wallen of Yukon, Okla., was arrested following an investigation by the Oklahoma Insurance Department’s Anti-fraud Unit Aug. 25 and charged with two felonies.

Investigators with the department alleged that Wallen defrauded a Wynnewood, Okla., couple between 2005 to 2007 by convincing them to buy bonds from the Iowa State Bond Trust, which would allegedly yield a return of 24%.

Wallen created the fictional company, according to an affidavit, and even created fake bonds and forged the signature of then Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, misspelling the governor’s name on the fake documents. He also convinced the couple to invest an additional $1,800 in a fake oil and gas venture, investigators said.

Wallen never invested the money from the couple and instead deposited the funds into his personal bank account, the department said.

When the couple inquired about their investments and the lack of promised returns, Wallen attempted to pay them $9,600 as a return on their initial investment, investigators said. An insurance department order, however, indicates that Wallen fraudulently misdirected those funds from the annuity of another of his clients, an elderly woman, by using one of her voided checks.

When the elderly client’s daughter noticed money was missing from her mother’s annuity in October 2007, she notified the insurance department, which began an immediate investigation into the revocation of Wallen’s insurance license.

Following an investigation, the insurance department’s anti-fraud unit referred the case to the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office for criminal prosecution, resulting in Wallen’s arrest.

“Targeting seniors with this sort of financial fraud is especially egregious and will not be tolerated,” said Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland. “The insurance department’s anti-fraud unit is working continuously to bring these sorts of scam artists to justice.”