ST. GEORGE, Utah, Sept. 29, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — A Southern Utah insurance agent is facing 33 felony charges, brought by the Utah Attorney General’s Office, all related to fraud and identity theft.
Michael Craig Nebeker, 38, of Santa Clara, has been charged on suspicion of:
- Twenty-eight counts of identity fraud, a third-degree felony
- A pattern of unlawful activity, a second-degree felony
- Three counts of false or fraudulent scheme to obtain fees or services, a second-degree felony
- One count of forgery — purports to be the act of another, a third-degree felony
The alleged crimes were committed in late 2017, according to a probable cause statement.
“The defendant wrote over 25 applications for life insurance under Mutual of Omaha Life Insurance, Columbian Life Insurance Company, Americo Financial Life and Farm Bureau Insurance,” the statement says.
“The applications in question were all written without the person named on the application’s permission. They were all either signed or electronically signed by the defendant.”
The statement goes on to say the defendant used the personal identity, name, date of birth and Social Security number of each victim to forge the documents.
“Statements from the victims said they never met with the defendant about life insurance and they never signed or completed the applications for life insurance.”
The statement says Nebeker filed life insurance applications using false addresses and bank accounts.
“The defendant would then receive upfront commission for the false applications,” it says.
Nebeker was only allowed to sell policies from Farm Bureau, but sold policies from other agencies using the account of another agent.
“This investigator made contact with the persons whose names appear on the applications and confirmed that they never signed or applied for life insurance through the various companies,” the statement said. “The application would then either be canceled by the defendant or be canceled by the insurance company for failure to pay premiums.”
Nebeker’s first Utah court appearance in the case is scheduled for Oct. 23 of this year.
Nebeker also faces charges in Colorado. He was indicted March 15 in Larimer County, Colo., for writing 87 fraudulent policies in 2015 and 2016, using information from members of his congregation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in Loveland, Colo., in order to collect insurance commissions, according to court records.
