A Florida man is behind bars and is facing serious charges of insurance fraud.
Naser Al-Sweity, an owner and agent for Florida P&C Insurance in Boca Raton, is facing 23 charges that range from misappropriation of insurance funds and fraudulent use of personal identification to organized scheme to defraud.
According to a summary report, Al-Sweity wrote 11 policies for seven people and said he accepted and deposited over $122,000 worth of premiums paid upfront, in full, for each of those policies.
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He also got into finance agreements with two premium finance companies that finance life insurance and allegedly did so without the approval of his clients, the report said.
Al-Sweity is also accused of writing his clients' names on the paperwork, but put his personal or work address and phone numbers so his customers were never notified of late payments or cancellations of policies.
During his first appearance in West Palm Beach, Circuit Judge Donald W. Hafele increased Al-Sweity's bond, but his court-appointed lawyer pushed back.
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"I'm not sure they're high enough. On the first count I'm increasing the bond to $50,000. These are very serious allegations," Hafele said.
The original amount for the one count was $15,000. The 22 other counts ranged from $3,000 to $5,000.
"The legal argument is that I don't believe the court has jurisdiction to touch the monetary bond set by the duty judge who has already determined pc and the applicable bond amount," his attorney said.
Al-Sweity tried to speak during the hearing, but instead was ushered out of the courtroom. His attorney told him that it would cost close to $100,000 to get him out.
His next court appearance has not been set.
