Ex-insurance agent accused of stealing

The Oldsmar man took more than $36,000 from 100 customers that should have gone to car insurers in 2001, authorities say.

By ED QUIOCO, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 28, 2003

A former North Pinellas insurance agent was arrested this week on charges he stole premiums paid by more than 100 customers who bought car insurance policies through him in 2001.

Instead of sending customers' premiums to the underwriting insurance companies, Charles P. Davis Jr. withheld their policy applications until he was confronted by his boss, according to court records.

Davis, 39, of Oldsmar, was an agent for Sunkey Insurance Store, a Winter Park company that sold insurance in the Tampa Bay area.

In all, Davis stole $36,831 that was supposed to go to AIG Inc. and Progressive Insurance, according to a sworn statement from John Womer, an investigator with the Florida Department of Insurance.

Davis was arrested Tuesday and charged with grand theft and defrauding an insurance company.

He could not be reached for comment; but his attorney, Steven Loewenthal of Tampa, said Thursday his client is innocent.

Someone else stole the money and shifted the blame "to save himself from prosecution," Loewenthal said.

Sunkey Insurance fired Davis in October 2001 after he admitted withholding more than 100 applications to the owner of the company, Stephan Lang, according to court records.

"On Oct. 30, 2001, Lang met with Davis; and Davis admitted that he had stolen money from Lang but gave no reason why," Womer said in the affidavit.

"Davis advised that he did not load the applications into the computer as he normally did but that he had mailed the application to AIG with checks that he wrote for $75 each."

But Davis collected much more than the $75 he sent with the applications, the investigator said.

"Fourteen different auto insurance customers from Pinellas County advised that they paid Davis over $300 each in premium down payment money, and either nothing or $75 was sent to the insurance companies by Davis," Womer said.

Sunkey worked with the insurance companies to make sure that all the customers would be covered, Womer said.

Davis was released Tuesday from the Pinellas County jail after posting $25,000 bail.

-- Ed Quioco can be reached at (727) 445-4185 or quioco@sptimes.com .

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