A former Costa Mesa resident was sentenced to four years in prison and ordered to pay more than $1.4 million in restitution after defrauding three victims, California Department of Insurance officials announced Tuesday.

Karyl Lynn Reed, 58, was arrested last October in Texas and extradited for trial in Santa Ana after prosecutors accused her of accused of multiple felony counts of grand theft, embezzlement and forgery. Reed was convicted last week.

Reed ran two companies, Envoy Business Partners and Allenn Specialty Group, where she provided victims with fraudulent Certificates of Insurance, even though she was unlicensed, causing her victims to believe they had valid coverage.

A CDI investigation revealed Reed also operated a staffing company without valid workers’ compensation coverage, collected workers’ compensation premiums and employer and employee taxes from victims.

One victim did not have worker’s compensation coverage for an employee who became injured on the job. Another victim found the policy number Reed had provided belonged to another business, according to a news release.

The case was prosecuted by the Major Fraud Unit of the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

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