Movie Insurance Executive Resigns

Michael Segal, one of the entertainment industry’s leading movie insurance executives, has resigned as chief executive of Chicago-based Near North National Group amid federal mail and insurance fraud charges.

Segal founded Los Angeles-based International Film Guarantors in 1991 as a joint venture with Fireman’s Fund. IFG, which says it is unaffected by Segal’s problems, provides completion bond services that give movie lenders and financiers a safety net in case a film goes seriously over budget or is delivered late.

Segal has denied the allegations by federal authorities in Chicago, who accused him of embezzling millions of dollars from a trust fund that the state of Illinois requires brokers to maintain.

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James Bates