A King County, Washington, judge issued a bench warrant a former Seattle insurance agent charged with stealing more than $400,000 in premiums from his clients.
Edward Hadley was charged with nine counts of first-degree theft following investigations by the Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner’s Legal Affairs and Criminal Investigations units. The King County Prosecutor’s Office filed charges, and the warrant was issued after he reportedly failed to appear in court.
Between December 2020 and November 2021, Hadley allegedly deposited 21 checks totaling $424,107 made payable to HUB International Northwest LLC into his personal account rather than the appropriate business account.
One of Hadley’s business clients switched their earthquake insurance to a different company — Superior Underwriters — and requested copies of the prior policies Hadley had sold them. When he provided copies of the previous policies, the new company determined the policies Hadley had purchased had different terms, premiums, and contract and issuance dates, and he had provided falsified proof of coverage documents for their earthquake policies.
Superior Underwriters notified the OIC of Hadley’s suspected violations. The OIC completed a regulatory investigation.
Eleven of the consumers interviewed during the investigation noted that they had not made their checks out to Hadley but to his insurance agency. Hadley then collected the checks, wrote his own “City B Properties” business name on the checks, and deposited them into his personal account via ATM, according to the OIC.
During the period when Hadley was depositing premium checks into his personal account, he reportedly withdrew $276,387 for payment back to HUB NW. whether that money was returned to consumers impacted in the case is unclear. The other $147,719 was unaccounted for, according to the OIC.
The OIC forwarded the investigation to CIU. Hadley was also added to Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer’s insurance fraud most wanted list. The OIC revoked his insurance producer license in June of 2024.
Topics Agencies Fraud Washington
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
Berkshire, Progressive Are Underwriting Profit Leaders; Industry Sets Income Record 
New DOJ Antitrust Chief Builds Team From Prior Administrations 
Tariffs Will Negatively Affect Insurance Industry, Says AM Best 
Man Torches Tesla Chargers in South Carolina But Catches His Clothes on Fire 
