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Joseph Edward Gargan

operator convicted

What this page is

Convicted in a public proceeding.

This page records only the legal facts of a public proceeding, each with its own source. It contains no addresses, contact details, family information or speculation, by policy, see the editorial policy. Last reviewed 2026-10-15.

  1. CEO and owner of The Pension Company, Inc., an Arlington, Virginia firm hired to execute civil settlement agreements and purchase annuities for minor plaintiffs. source
  2. Pleaded guilty in June 2020 to one felony count of wire fraud and one felony count of embezzlement of government funds. source
  3. Embezzled $6,925,000 of nearly $16 million in federal settlement funds provided between 2015 and 2019 to purchase annuities for children harmed by medical malpractice or negligence, plus a further $1,032,750 entrusted by a New York hospital for a severely disabled child's trust, a combined $7,957,750. source
  4. Created false documents purporting to show he had purchased annuities for the settlement recipients, when the money had instead been embezzled and converted to his own use. source
  5. Sentenced on September 23, 2020 to 70 months in federal prison, the minimum under federal sentencing guidelines, and ordered to pay $9,117,165 in restitution. source

Gargan ran a business other people in the structured settlement industry, including Washington attorney Kenneth Feinberg, who oversaw the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund, say they trusted for advice on setting up annuities for injury victims. That reputation is part of what let the embezzlement continue for roughly four years before it was caught.

Cases

Sources

  1. Virginia executive admits embezzling from children's funds. NBC4 Washington / The Associated Press. Accessed 2026-10-15. Supports: The guilty plea, the charges, and his role at The Pension Company.
  2. Structured Settlement Swindler With Kennedy Ties Sentenced to Prison. Claims Journal. Accessed 2026-10-15. Supports: The sentence, restitution amount, exact embezzled figures, and the false annuity documents.

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