Couple Guilty in $50-Million Insurance Scam

A husband and wife accused of masterminding a massive insurance scam that bilked nearly 6,000 consumers and business owners--primarily Californians--out of more than $50 million have pleaded guilty to mail fraud, money laundering and other federal charges.

Victims of the scam included Los Angeles merchants whose small businesses were destroyed in last year’s riots, along with motorists injured in auto accidents whose coverage proved to be worthless.

The couple charged in the scheme--Alan Teale, 63, and Charlotte C. Rentz, 53, of Atlanta, --have agreed to cooperate with authorities investigating others involved in the fraud.

Teale’s lawyer, Robert G. Fierer, said his client “has a great deal of feeling for those who have been injured, but when the whole case is understood, Alan Teale is just a small part of it.”

Assistant U.S. Atty. Richard W. Moore in Mobile, Ala., where the case is being handled by authorities, said in a news release that “we’re going to follow the evidence wherever it leads.”

Under their agreement with federal prosecutors, Teale and Rentz forfeited money held in foreign and U.S. banks, corporate assets and their Atlanta home to pay restitution to victims.

The U.S. Attorney’s office in Mobile is trying to contact consumers and merchants who qualify for restitution by virtue of making legitimate claims that were not paid because of the fraud.

Sentencing is set for Dec. 2.

According to authorities, Teale and Rentz owned, operated or acted as marketing agents for an array of insurance companies that bilked customers. The firms involved in the scam in California included, among numerous others, Northern Commercial Fire & General Insurance Co., Apex Placement Insurance and United States & Continental Reinsurance Co.