COLUMBUS, Ohio — A former executive for Root was sentenced to more than four years in prison for embezzling a little more than $10 million from the Columbus-based insurance company and violating orders of a court in a related civil lawsuit against him.
Brinson Caleb Silver, 43, of California, used his position as the chief marketing officer to create a scheme involving shell companies, inflated contracts and a stolen identity, according to U.S. Attorney Kenneth Parker's office.
Silver pleaded guilty last year to one count each of wire fraud and contempt of court.
Court documents say Silver entered into contracts with four vendors for marketing services from November 2021 to November 2022. He directed the vendors to send a portion of their contract proceeds to bank accounts in the names of businesses that Silver owned and controlled. Those payments totaled more than $10.2 million.
Silver used the embezzled money to buy a $1.4 million yacht, a Mercedez-Benz G550 for $165,000, an amphibious plane, luxury watches and other items.
Root sued Silver in February 2023 because of the scheme. As the case progressed, Silver violated multiple court orders. For example, he flouted an order entered by the court in his civil suit that limited him to purchases no more than $5,000. In addition, he failed to appear in court for a hearing related to his civil suit and instead traveled the world.
His expenditures in February and March 2023 violated the court's orders and included $20,000 on plastic surgery, nearly $25,000 at Indonesian businesses and other purchases.
Silver also withheld from the court about a $1.8 million house he owned in California. Before the cases were filed, Silver made two phone calls to an "international relocation" company and asked for citizenship within a country that would not extradite him back to the United States and a foreign bank account that the U.S. could not freeze.
As part of his sentence, he is ordered to pay more than $10.2 million in restitution.
