ASIC moves on insurance frauds

In two separate and unrelated announcements, the Australian Securities and Invesments Commission (ASIC) has made rulings against two insurance agents.

Hawthorn insurance agent Joseph Francis McNeany, who had operated an insurance agency called Integrated Insurance Service since March, has had assets frozen by the securities watchdog after being found to have not passed on clients' premium money to insurers.

The Federal Court ordered that the proceeds of a sale of a residential property in Richmond, Victoria, be held in trust by McNeany's solicitors. McNeany had not passed on money for his clients' premiums and had even paid claims to his clients from his own money, as policies had not been arranged.

McNeany has been forbidden to act as an agent or withdraw any money from an IIS bank account while the watchdog's enquiries continue.

The second announcement made by ASIC related to Samson Elmazi, of Dandenong, who pleaded guilty in Melbourne Magistrate's Court to 34 criminal charges including obtaining property by deception, being an unregistered insurance broker, failing to disclose commissions and making false statements to clients.

Elmazi, formerly a broker for Dandenong Insurance Brokers and VIP Insurance Brokers, between 1997 and 1999 acted as an insurance broker without being registered as one. ASIC says he arranged insurance for a number of clients using inflated premium prices and kept the difference without disclosing to his clients the actual amounts they were paying.

Elmazi was ordered to pay $34,519 and to serve 200 hours in community service.