Trial Starts for Suspended Insurance Commissioner

Thursday, July 15, 2021 | 0

The trial of Jim Beck kicked off Tuesday with prosecutors arguing that the suspended Georgia insurance commissioner ran a $2 million scheme that defrauded a high-risk property insurance association, according to a report by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Jim Beck
(gpb.org)

Beck was elected insurance commissioner in 2018 and indicted in May 2019 on charges including wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering.

The indictment alleges Beck encouraged friends to start companies and send invoices to the Georgia Underwriting Association. He then allegedly funneled money to himself through two companies he controlled.

Attorneys for Beck on Tuesday said the U.S. Department of Justice didn’t know enough about the insurance industry to investigate the case, according to the Journal-Constitution report. They said that under his leadership, the Georgia Underwriting Association turned a profit for the first time in 40 years.

The trial is expected to take two weeks.