Agent pleads guilty in theft

The insurance agent was accused of keeping $119,000 in premiums for a college's policy that he had canceled.

By Times staff writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 26, 2003

PALM HARBOR -- An insurance agent charged with pocketing nearly $119,000 of St. Petersburg College's money after he canceled one of the school's insurance policies pleaded guilty to criminal charges Tuesday.

Thomas E. Pollock was charged in November with grand theft and acting as an insurer without a certificate of authority, both third-degree felonies. Judge Tim Peters adjudicated Pollock guilty and sentenced him to three years probation. Pollock also must pay $10,000 in fines and $40,000 in restitution by the time his probation expires, said prosecutor Fred Schaub.

Pollock, of Palm Harbor, signed up the college to a cancer reimbursement insurance plan in 1990, then canceled the policy with the underwriter two years later. Pollock kept collecting premiums from the college for the next nine years, however, and did not tell college officials that he had canceled the plan, arrest affidavits state.

While he collected premiums, Pollock also paid claims over the nine years. The difference -- $118,712 -- he kept, affidavits state.

An official at the college noticed the discrepancy in April 2001 after he began searching for a certificate of coverage. He soon discovered the underwriter had been cut out of the picture.

Schaub said prosecutors gave a lot of thought to who should benefit from Pollock's restitution. The college didn't pay any more than it would have to the insurance company, and employees didn't lose out on any coverage. Giving restitution to the insurance company also didn't seem right, Schaub said.

"It was kind of a bizarre case," Schaub said.

Prosecutors ultimately decided to ask that restitution be paid to the Crimes Compensation Fund, which gives money to crime victims, and Peters agreed.

Schaub said prosecutors wanted a guilty plea from Pollock because it would prevent him from working as an insurance agent.

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