LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — The Gwinnett District Attorney’s Office has secured the indictment of former insurance agency owner Charles Curtis Poteet IV on multiple felony insurance fraud charges, alleging that he accepted premium payments from clients while failing to obtain the insurance coverage they believed they had purchased.
According to court records, a Gwinnett County grand jury returned the indictment in late May. Authorities later located and arrested Poteet in Texas. Prosecutors allege that the former Duluth-based insurance agent engaged in fraudulent conduct spanning several years, with charges connected to incidents occurring in 2017, 2021, 2022, and 2023.
Investigators contend that Poteet collected premium payments for commercial insurance policies but did not secure the coverage requested by clients. The allegations surfaced after several business owners reported that they had paid for insurance policies that were never issued.
The case also involves allegations that fraudulent certificates of insurance were provided to customers. Reports indicate the documents purported to show coverage for workers’ compensation, general liability, automobile, and umbrella insurance policies, despite the policies allegedly not being in force.
Poteet operated Poteet & Poteet, an insurance agency based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. State licensing records show that he was originally licensed as a property and casualty insurance producer in Georgia in 2008. His producer license became inactive earlier this year, and records indicate that appointments with dozens of insurance carriers had either been terminated or become inactive.
The indictment marks a significant development in a case that has drawn attention from business owners who claim they were left without critical insurance protection after believing coverage had been secured. Prosecutors have not publicly disclosed the total financial losses associated with the alleged scheme.
As with all criminal cases, the charges against Poteet are allegations, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court. The case will proceed through the Gwinnett County court system, where prosecutors will seek to prove the insurance fraud allegations beyond a reasonable doubt.
Information for this article was provided by Gwinnett District Attorney’s Office. Views and claims expressed in this article are those of the source company and do not necessarily reflect the views of AgencyEquity.com. This article may have been edited with the help of AI.
