The arrest of insurance agent Macie Anedra Yawn may be another feather in the cap of a Georgia insurance commissioner focused on sniffing out rotten industry players.
This week, Commission Ralph Hudgens announced the arrest of the owner and operated of Charles Robinson Insurance Agency in Eastman, Ga., on a slew of charges related to diverting customer funds earmarked for premium payments.
The charges have yet to be proven in court. The state’s insurance fraud division alleges Yawn took payments on numerous occasions, then using that money for her own person benefit.
“Alleged actions like Ms. Yawn’s not only damaged the trust consumers placed in her as an insurance agent, but also make everyone’s insurance premiums go up,” Commissioner Hudgens told reporters.
He argues that there may be more victims of Yawn. Hudgens is asking customers who fear they may have been affected to contact the Georgia Department of Insurance for more information.
If convicted, Yawn faces as long as 10 years in prison, with a judge reserving the right to tab on a fine as large as $10,000.
The case representing what many argue is the oldest and potentially most damaging insurance fraud for the industry. Pocketing premiums has a particularly punishing effect on the reputation of independent brokers, argue industry veterans.
They point to its impact on consumer confidence in mom-and-pop shops and the corresponding boost it gives to large consumer-direct insurers, with what the public views as having all the safeguards of corporate America.
