Couple Accused of Using Theater Group’s Credit Card Settles With Insurer

A Connecticut couple who previously lived in Tampa, Florida, has agreed to settle a subrogation lawsuit brought by Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Co., which accused the couple of using a nonprofit theater group’s credit card for personal gain.

The suit said the couple, Lindsay Warfield and Randall Adkison, ran up more than $587,000 on the card. Philadelphia Indemnity, which covered the alleged theft losses, also asked for interest, punitive damages, attorney fees and other costs. The settlement amount was not disclosed in court papers filed last week in federal court in Connecticut.

“This case has been reported settled. Rather than continue to keep the case open on the docket, the Clerk of Court is directed to close this file administratively without prejudice to reopening on or before October 21, 2024,” reads the judge’s order, filed after a settlement conference.

The alleged fraud highlighted a stunning fall from grace for one of the nonprofit theater world’s rising stars. For almost a decade, Warfield was chapter director of the Florida State Thespian Society, an affiliate of Educational Theatre Association, which was insured under a policy from Philadelphia Insurance. In 2020, she was named theater educator of the year by the Florida Association for Theatre Education. That year, she was a theatre teacher at George M. Steinbrenner High School in Tampa, according to published reports.

As state chapter director, Warfield had access to the association’s bank accounts and checkbook and had the authority to approve credit card payments for the business. The Society has troupes in schools around the state and an annual festival in Tampa, its website shows.

Warfield’s non-business expenditures allegedly included payments for groceries, clothing, furniture, airline tickets, and beauty salon, custom auto and veterinarian services, as well as payments to vendors including Airbnb, Universal Studios, Sea World, Disney, Broadway, and various museums and movie theaters.

According to the complaint, the couple moved to Connecticut from Florida shortly before the board of the Educational Theatre Association in March 2023 uncovered the alleged misappropriation of funds and suspended Warfield.

Philadelphia Insurance’s lawsuit complaint alleged that after the fraud was uncovered by the nonprofit’s board, Adkison, who was an assistant director with the Florida chapter, deleted all festival registration data prior to 2023.

When asked about the credit card charges, Warfield admitted to misappropriating monies for personal use such as AirBnB stays and Wayfair expenses. She said she “kept her business credit cards in the same electronic wallet on her phone and that she sometimes used the business credit cards for personal items by mistake.”

Read more about the subrogation lawsuit.