Tennessee Halts Businesses of 2 Unlicensed Agents

Two former Tennessee insurance providers have been served cease and desist orders by the Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance (TDCI) in response to fraudulent practices the department says they used to sell insurance and scam consumers.

TDCI issued a cease and desist order against Johnny Ray Jackson on April 24, 2018 and Richard Wayne Davis, Jr. April 25, 2018 that require that Jackson and Davis cease and desist from any insurance-related activity in Tennessee, including but not limited to, the solicitation, sale, or negotiation of insurance. In earlier separate actions, TDCI revoked the licenses of both Jackson and Davis.

Jackson, of Hermitage, Tenn., has also employed the aliases of “Johnny Tucker” and “John Jay Tucker. He had his license revoked on Oct. 26, 1999, for wrongfully altering dates on his clients’ policies, failing to timely and properly remit his clients’ premium payments to insurance companies, and failing to timely reimburse his clients’ premiums, according to TDCI.

Despite the revocation of his license, in 2013, TDCI said Jackson established and began to operate an insurance agency, Senior Security, LLC, with Forrest J. McDole, now deceased. Jackson also has known associations with Southern Alliance of Tennessee, LLC and Senior Health and Wealth Management, LLC. Through Senior Security, Jackson has continued engage in the illegal sale of insurance without a producer’s license in Tennessee as recently as late 2017.

Additionally, TDCI alleges Jackson engaged in insurance fraud by soliciting and selling an insurance product under false pretenses and forgery and misappropriation by altering checks in the course of insurance business. In October 2016, Jackson was fined $44,400 in a case that he is currently contesting.

Davis, of Winchester, Tenn., had his license summarily suspended on June 5, 2015, but went on to write 21 life insurance applications between June 22, 2015 and Aug. 20, 2015, according to TDCI. As a result of these actions, his license was revoked on Nov. 18, 2015, and pursuant to the April 25, 2018 order, Davis was assessed a civil penalty of $7,500.

Additionally, he pleaded guilty to seven counts of impersonating a licensed professional and is currently incarcerated. In April 2018, he began serving a 10-year jail sentence in the Franklin County Jail (nine years on probation with 11 months and 29 days to serve).

“As the regulator for Tennessee’s insurance providers, I am urging consumers to not engage with either Mr. Jackson or Mr. Davis when purchasing insurance,” said TDCI Commissioner Julie Mix McPeak. “Both men have a proven history of noncompliance with Tennessee’s insurance laws, and neither former agent is licensed to sell insurance in this state. Remember: Impersonating a licensed professional is a felony in Tennessee.”

Mix McPeak added TDCI has sought and will continue to seek any and all available remedies against Jackson and Davis.

Any Tennessean that has conducted insurance business through Jackson or Davis should contact the TDCI offices, she said.

Source: Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance