Miami Insurance Agent Pleads Guilty to Keeping $6M in Premium Finance Loans

A Miami insurance agent has pleaded guilty to defrauding a Georgia credit union by obtaining loans for condominium associations’ premium financing then using the $6 million for personal gain.

Heleonel Gonzalez, known as Leo, is set for sentencing in February, the U.S. Attorney’s office for North Georgia and the FBI said Wednesday.

“Peach State Federal Credit Union would not have made the loans if it had not been for Defendant Gonzalez’s false and fraudulent representations,” reads the felony information document filed by prosecutors in federal court.

Gonzalez, 48, owned Sharp Insurance Agency in Miami Lakes. On at least 20 occasions in 2023 and early this year, he represented to the credit union that clients had authorized him to apply for loans that would be used to help condo associations pay their property insurance premiums, court documents show.

One condominium group was 360 Community Association, representing waterfront, high-rise condo units in Miami, according to court records. Prosecutors said that Gonzalez’ insurance agency was an agent for Citizens Property Insurance Corp. State Department of Financial Services agent records show that Gonzalez’ appointment with Citizens began in 2016 and expires in April 2025. He also held active appointments with 15 other insurers, including Universal Property and Casualty Insurance.

Gonzalez could not be reached by phone early Thursday.

He now faces as much as 30 years in federal prison and a $1 million fine. Prosecutors also have asked that Gonzalez forfeit multiple assets, including a home in Park City, Utah, that is listed at $749,000 on Zillow, a real estate site, along with another property in Park City.

Others were involved in the scheme, the U.S. Attorney’s office said, but it was not reported if or when they will be prosecuted. The FBI is continuing to investigate.

Florida’s property insurance and condominium crises may have provided the perfect cover for Gonzalez’s subterfuge. Insurance premiums for condos have soared in recent years, as have repair costs and association fees after Florida lawmakers in 2022 required more frequent inspections and cash reserves for condominium associations. Many condo unit owners have said they cannot afford the new costs and plan to move out.

“Gonzalez fraudulently represented that the loan proceeds … would be used to pay the premiums on the policy, and for no other purpose. But Gonzalez knew these representations were false,” the U.S. Attorney’s office said in a statement.

Instead of financing insurance premiums, Gonzalez used the millions to pay off his own debt and other personal expenses, prosecutors said.