Insurance Agent Pleads Guilty to Stealing Phony Policy Premiums

A Brea insurance agent faces up to six years in prison on theft and forgery convictions for collecting $48,000 in premiums over more than two years for policies he never wrote for a business customer.

Anthony Wayne Sherer, 29, who remains free on his own recognizance after pleading guilty Wednesday to six felony counts, will be sentenced Oct. 27 by Orange County Municipal Judge Carla Singer.

Sherer began collecting premiums in July, 1992, on workers’ compensation, automobile and general liability policies, but he simply put the money in his own bank account, Orange County Deputy Dist. Atty. Stephanie George said.

When his customer made a claim last year, Sherer tried to forestall action by repaying him $8,000 from his employer’s account, forging checks along the way, George said. Meantime, the customer, whose car had sustained $8,000 in damages, paid $9,000 in attorney fees trying to prove to the insurance company that he was covered, she said.