INSURANCE THEFT RESULTS IN $4 MILLION AWARD
May 8, 1993
Mobile Press Register
Agent forged checks using Mobile couple's names and deposited them
in his account
A Mobile County Circuit Court jury awarded a Mobile couple $4 million
Friday in connection with the theft of life insurance checks, which their
insurance agent forged and converted to his own account.
The jury awarded Jack and Jean Smith $2 million in compensatory damages
and $2 million in punitive damages. The judgment was against Crown Life
Insurance co., a Toronto-based company.
The verdict followed a four-day trial in Judge Robert Kendall's courtroom.
Buddy Brown, the Smith's attorney, said evidence showed the couple's
agent, Edward Land, who was convicted of mail and wire fraud in federal
court here, forged six checks totaling $47,800 and deposited the money
into his own checking account.
He said evidence showed Land filed false applications for loans from the
company against policies, using the Smiths' names, and he forged their
names and then deposited checks into his own checking account.