A Florida insurance agent has pleaded guilty to three felony charges stemming from an insurance fraud case involving more than $318,000 in premium financing funds.
Daniel Raney, a Pensacola insurance agent and owner of Raney Ventures LLC, pleaded guilty on Oct. 1 to organized fraud, misappropriation of insurance funds and using a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony.
According to law enforcement, Raney entered into two premium finance agreements with AFCO Credit Corp. to obtain funding for insureds through companies he owned, but the corresponding insurance coverage was not purchased.
Investigators said AFCO issued $237,580.20 to Gulf Coast Management LLC and another $80,504.82 to I-10 Investments. Both companies are owned by Raney. AFCO reportedly received several premium installment payments before the payments stopped.
The Florida Department of Financial Services’ Bureau of Insurance Fraud became involved after AFCO determined that the two companies might not be legitimate.
Under Raney’s plea agreement, prosecutors plan to drop several additional charges at sentencing, including racketeering, money laundering, two counts of grand theft involving more than $100,000 and one count of grand theft involving between $20,000 and $100,000.
The three charges to which Raney pleaded guilty would ordinarily carry a combined maximum sentence of 50 years in prison. However, Judge Amy Brodersen said the plea agreement caps Raney’s potential prison sentence at seven years.
Raney is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 10.
The case was investigated by the Florida Department of Financial Services’ Bureau of Insurance Fraud. The details of the plea and pending sentencing were reported by the Pensacola News Journal.
Information for this article was provided by Pensacola News Journal. 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.
