Former insurance agent pleads guilty to wire fraud

NORFOLK, Va. – A former insurance agent pled guilty today to wire fraud related to a scheme to pocket the premiums he was paid for policies he sold.

According to court documents, Thomas Robert Hoyt, 32, of Melfa, contracted with insurance carriers to sell the carriers’ products to Hoyt’s clients, serving as the intermediary between the insurers and the insured. For certain policies, Hoyt directed his clients to pay premiums to him and represented that he would forward those payments to the insurance carriers.

In response to complaints from Hoyt’s clients, the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Bureau of Insurance opened an investigation, contacting Hoyt in June 2021. On Sept. 9, 2021, Hoyt signed an agreement with the Bureau to voluntarily agree to the permanent revocation of the insurance licenses for himself and Hoyt Insurance. 

Hoyt then sold his book of business to a small independent insurance agency. Hoyt falsely represented that all premiums due on policies that were part of the purchase by the agency had been paid to the respective companies providing insurance and that there were no pending investigations. The agency provided Hoyt with a $27,282.28 down payment. Upon review of the policies Hoyt had purported to sell, the agency discovered that a significant number had lapsed or were never in place because Hoyt had failed to pay the insurance carriers the required premiums.

Click for full Press Release.