N.C. Sentences Pair for Alleged Embezzlement

In separate cases, courts in North Carolina convicted two women for alleged embezzlement and insurance fraud.

According to the North Carolina Department of Insurance, Hillsborough resident Linda Kay Fleshman, formerly a North Carolina licensed insurance agent and a customer service representative at a State Farm Insurance Agency in Durham, was convicted of insurance fraud and will be on probation for the next five years. Insurance Commissioner Jim Long announced that Fleshman pleaded guilty in Durham County Superior Court to one count each of embezzlement and embezzlement by an insurance agent.

In another, unrelated proceeding, Cary resident Sally Bruns, past president of Benefit Design Associates in Morrisville, was sentenced to a minimum of 60 months and a maximum of 81 months incarceration and was ordered to pay court appointed attorney’s fees. Bruns previously entered a plea of guilty to felony embezzlement by an insurance agent for not remitting over a half million dollars in insurance premiums to The Hartford Insurance Company.

Commissioner Long noted that embezzlement by insurance agents is “an ongoing problem” in the state.

North Carolina Department of Insurance investigators discovered that Fleshman embezzled $22,422 belonging to the State Farm agency. For approximately one year between 2000 and 2001, Fleshman stole insurance premiums paid in cash by customers.

The NCDOI stated that in the Bruns case, Benefit Design Associates contracted with the U.S. Lacrosse Association and U.S.A. Gymnastics to provide medical, liability, disability and life insurance coverage for over 50,000 members through The Hartford Insurance Company.

An investigation conducted by the North Carolina Department of Insurance and The Hartford Insurance Company discovered the Bruns reportedly failed to remit $141,200 in premiums from the U.S. Lacrosse Association and $434,375 from U.S.A. Gymnastics.

Topics USA North Carolina