Mobile Insurance Agent Charged with Fraud Over Unissued Policies

A Mobile insurance agent faces a federal fraud charge after authorities say he collected more than $40,000 from 17 clients for policies that were never issued or were later canceled without their knowledge.

Prosecutors filed a single fraud count against Anthony Stutts in federal court in Mobile. According to court records, Stutts has reached an agreement with prosecutors and is expected to enter a guilty plea before U.S. District Court Judge Callie Granade.

The charge stems from Stutts’ work as an agent for Farmers Insurance, where court records say he faxed a false finance agreement to an insurance underwriting company on behalf of a client who had already paid him more than $16,000 for a policy. According to the records, the fax was sent to “forestall Stutts’ payment due to the underwriter,” delaying detection of the scheme.

The FBI opened an investigation after several of Stutts’ clients contacted the agency in 2013, complaining that he had collected premium payments for policies that were never actually issued, court records show. Investigators ultimately identified 17 victims who paid for coverage that either never took effect or lapsed due to nonpayment that Stutts never forwarded.

What happens next

In federal cases resolved by plea agreement, prosecutors often file the charge in a document called an information rather than seeking a grand jury indictment. The judge decides whether to accept the guilty plea, and sentencing usually comes months later, after the U.S. Probation Office prepares a presentence report that applies the federal sentencing guidelines.