A former Nevada insurance agent pleaded guilty to insurance fraud and could face up to four years in prison for writing fake insurance policies for friends and relatives without their knowledge.

Bradley D. Buchanan admitted his guilt in Washoe District Court, according to the Reno Gazette-Journal, and will be sentenced Feb. 5 on a felony count of insurance fraud.

Buchanan, according to court documents, worked as an independent insurance agent and received at least one commission check from the scheme for $27. Other insurers did not pay him commission because the policies were dropped due to lack of payment.

While Buchanan did not gain much from the scheme, prosecutors say the cost was substantial for insurance companies to investigate and audit his claims and that victims in the case underwent billing, collections and damage to their credit, the report said.

Buchanan was accused of committing the frauds between October and December 2008, writing policies for his stepfather, common-law wife, her ex-husband and their two children without anyone’s knowledge.

The case came to the attention of the Nevada attorney general’s office after Buchanan’s sister told investigators about the scheme. She had received notices in the mail demanding payment for insurance policies she never knew existed, the Gazette-Journal reported.

Investigators said Buchanan used his wife’s checking account to send initial payments on the policies, but those checks eventually bounced.