N.Y. tour boat owner claims he’s victim of insurance scam

Regulators in three states are investigating whether the owner of a tour boat that capsized on New York’s Lake George and killed 20 elderly tourists was the victim of an insurance scam.

Texas, New York and Florida investigators are trying to determine whether a London reinsurer, a Texas insurance broker, and a Florida insurance intermediary sold a fraudulent insurance policy to the owner of the Ethan Allen tour boat that capsized, as the Detroit Free Press first suggested in its reports.

The 40-foot Ethan Allen capsized Oct. 2 on Lake George with 48 people on board.

Jim Quirk, whose company Shoreline Cruises owns the Ethan Allen, told the newspaper he believed the boat’s $2 million insurance policy covered marine accidents. Quirk said his company, Shoreline Cruises, bought the policy for the Ethan Allen and four other tour boats in 2004 through Charles H. Wegman of Houston.

Florida intermediary
Wegman was apparently working with the Global Property Owners Association in Plantation, Fla., which at that time listed its address as a suite in Miami where virtual office services such as answering phones and collecting mail are provided for a fee.

Global Property said the policy would be written with United ReInsurance Group Ltd., whose address was another virtual office provider in London, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Shoreline Cruises lawyer, Michael Allweiss, said Shoreline sent $14,140 to Global Property’s offices for the 2005 policy for five of its boats.

The families of the victims have been expecting Shoreline’s insurance to help them with funeral and medical bills for the lake accident. But Global Property Owners Association maintains the Ethan Allen was insured only for accidents on land, the newspaper said.

Meanwhile, Texas regulators say associates of Global Property Owners Association and United ReInsurance are suspected of selling millions of dollars in nonexistent insurance, the newspaper said.

New York authorities are investigating because neither Global Property Owners nor United ReInsurance appears to be licensed to sell in the state. Neither New York state nor federal law requires require tour vessels to carry liability insurance, said Michael Barry, a spokesman for the New York State Insurance Department.

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