Insurance adjuster stole $107,000 from fire victims, officials say. He’s prison-bound
A Georgia couple was robbed of more than $107,000 after a house fire, authorities say. Now, their insurance adjuster is headed to prison.
The 62-year-old Canton man was handed a three-year sentence Tuesday, March 26, after jurors found him guilty on two counts of theft by conversion and four counts of theft by deception, according to the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office.
McClatchy News isn’t naming the man because he hasn’t been convicted of a violent crime.
The sentencing comes after authorities said he offered to help the couple and instead stole thousands in insurance money meant to repair their burned home.
He’s accused of taking between $87,899.74 and $107,899.73, prosecutors said.
“This man was licensed to uphold the public trust of people experiencing some of the worst times in their lives,” Gwinnett County District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said. “Instead, he used his position to prey on these victims and line his own pockets. This punishment ensures that justice is served.”
As their licensed insurance adjuster, the man represented the homeowners in a settlement with their insurance company between February and June of 2019, Gatson’s office said. The terms of their contract allowed him 15% of the settlement for adjuster fees.
The homeowners never saw the full amount of their settlement, according to prosecutors.
Authorities said it’s not the first time the adjuster was accused of running an insurance scheme.
In 2020, he was arrested after reportedly stealing $217,000 meant for a South Georgia business badly damaged in Hurricane Michael in October 2018, according to the Georgia Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire’s office.
He was also accused of defrauding contractors in Cobb and Dougherty counties out of more than $26,000, InsuranceJournal.com reported. His public adjuster license was revoked after he failed to show up to court.
“The citizens of the State of Georgia should rest easy knowing (he) is no longer licensed as a public adjuster,” Commissioner John F. King told the outlet in 2020. “To date, our office has arrested (him) on over $550,000 worth of stolen funds from hardworking Georgians.”
Gwinnett County is about a 30-mile drive northeast from downtown Atlanta.