Scamming Cargo Insurance Broker Behind Bars
John Paul KillThe FBI said Aug. 25 the former operator of Appeal Insurance Agency, based in Norcross, Georgia, has been sentenced to four years in federal prison for insurance fraud.
John Paul Kill illegally collected more than $3.7 million from nearly 800 trucking companies nationwide for selling/brokering fictitious cargo insurance policies, the FBI said.
“The defendant held himself out as an honest broker to hundreds of trucking companies, but he simply pocketed their premium payments instead of securing legitimate insurance coverage,” U.S. Attorney John Horn said.
He added, “His scam tricked clients into believing they had proper insurance coverage and endangered small businesses operating in more than 20 states.”
“I’m thankful for the diligence of the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” said Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens, whose office referred the case. “This investigation proves that when agencies like the Department of Insurance and the U.S. Attorney’s Office work together, bad actors will be stopped.”
According to Horn, the charges, and other information presented in court: Kill operated an insurance brokerage firm, Appeal Insurance Agency, in Norcross. He began offering cargo insurance policies to trucking companies in 2013. Kill issued policy binders to clients falsely representing that Lloyd’s of London would provide insurance coverage. In reality, Kill never brokered any agreement with Lloyd’s to provide coverage and instead pocketed the premium payments. Most of the victims received no insurance policies, and Kill instead attempted to pay claims for losses out of the premium payments he collected from new victims.
Nearly 800 trucking companies located in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Virginia paid about $3.75 million in premiums for fraudulent insurance policies from 2013 through mid-2014, the FBI said.
Kill, 63, of Norcross, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Eleanor L. Ross to four years in federal prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, and he was ordered to pay approximately $1.23 million in restitution to victims.
Kill was convicted on this charge on May 6, 2015, after he pleaded guilty.
This case was investigated by the FBI and the Georgia Office of Commissioner of Insurance. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Kitchens prosecuted the case.
