Fla. Renews Verification Warnings After Agent’s 3rd Arrest
As fraud investigators with the Florida Department of Financial Services continue to identify victims of a Miami auto insurance agent who collected premiums without securing coverage, Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher is re-issuing a warning to consumers to verify the coverage they are buying is legitimate and properly placed before handing over a check.
Department fraud investigators said they have identified at least 30 consumers who paid for insurance but never got coverage from Doretha Wilson’s agency MTM Insurance, located at 13514 Memorial Highway in Miami. Wilson, 55, remains held without bond in Dade County Jail following her third arrest for forgery and grand theft. Her license is suspended through an emergency order issued by the department’s Division of Legal Services, following an investigation by the Division of Agent and Agencies’ Bureau of Investigation.
Wilson is alleged to have defrauded consumers by accepting premiums for automobile insurance that she never forwarded to insurance companies, or by creating fraudulent certificates of insurance. Wilson had no appointment to sell insurance for any licensed auto insurance company, and her customers learned of their lack of coverage only after filing claims.
In the past two years, the department has filed administrative charges against more than 50 agents and shut down 10 unlicensed entities that were marketing phony coverage in Florida.