BRIEF: Two Convicted of Insurance Scam

Jun. 12--SACRAMENTO -- A federal jury has convicted two people, including a woman from Lodi, of conspiracy, mail fraud and money laundering in connection with an insurance scam, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced Thursday.

Prosecutors said Donna Jean Rowe, 58, of Lodi and James S. Kalfsbeek, 71, of Arbuckle ran a bogus car insurance company, called Puget's Sound Agricultural Society Ltd., from 1994 to 2002.

They collected millions of dollars in fees, ignored large accident claims, skirted state laws and refused to pay for pain and suffering claims because they considered it "part of God's plan," prosecutors said.

Rowe and Kalfsbeek, a former Colusa County supervisor, claimed they were "sovereign citizens" and that U.S. and state governments were "alien corporations" with no authority over "organic, Christian people," prosecutors said.

Two other defendants -- Amy Lynn Polnoff, 51, of Lathrop and Kurt Lakota, 61, of Galt -- previously pleaded guilty in connection with the scheme, prosecutors said.

Rowe and Kalfsbeek are scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 25. They face up to 20 years in prison for each count of mail fraud, 20 years for the money laundering counts and five years for conspiracy.

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