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Texas Department of Insurance
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Notable insurance fraud cases

William N Gallagher (aka Doc)
Date of Action: 3/27/2020
County: Dallas County
Violation: Money laundering, theft, securities fraud – all 1st degree felonies
Action Taken: Sentenced to 25 years incarceration and ordered to pay $10,386,816.68 in restitution.

In Dallas County, William Neil “Doc” Gallagher was convicted of securities fraud, theft, and money laundering, all first-degree felonies. He defrauded investors of millions of dollars from 2013 to 2019. Gallagher hosted a radio show called “The Money Doctor” in north Texas. Prosecutors said he targeted elderly listeners of his radio show, promising annual returns, which he claimed they would never outlive. In a plea agreement, he was sentenced to 25 years confinement and was ordered to repay more than $10.3 million dollars in restitution.

 

Ryan R. Richter
Date of Action: 2/28/2020
County: Travis County
Violation: Theft, 1st Degree Felony
Action Taken: Sentenced to 5 years deferred adjudication and 300 hours community service. Restitution paid up front.

In Travis County, Ryan Richter, a former insurance agent, was placed on 5 years deferred adjudication after pleading guilty to first degree felony theft. The charges stem from Richter’s scheme of collecting inflated insurance policy premiums from two Austin businesses from 2010 through 2015. During those five years, Richter stole over $468,000. The state offered deferred adjudication in consideration of his guilty plea, receiving full and complete up-front restitution of $468,814 ($355,501 in cash and $113,313 in voluntarily surrendered assets to the victims). Before the plea, Richter voluntarily surrendered his insurance license with TDI.

 

Mark Athanasia
Date of Action: 11/15/2019
County: Tarrant County
Violation: Misapplication of Fiduciary Property, 2nd Degree Felony
Action Taken: Sentenced to 10 years deferred adjudication, 160 hours community service and ordered to pay $18,425.00 in restitution.

In Tarrant County, former insurance agent Mark Athanasia pleaded guilty to a second degree felony charge of misapplication of fiduciary property. He defrauded an elderly couple, both in their 80s, of $20,000, which they entrusted to him to use to secure investments on their behalf. Records showed no such investments were ever obtained. One of the victims said they had done business with Anathasia for over ten years and they never had any reason to doubt his word or investment opportunities. In his plea deal with prosecutors, Athanasia was placed on 10 years deferred adjudication community supervision and was ordered to pay $18,425 in restitution.

 

Nancy Jackson Carroll (aka Nancy Spinks)
Date of Action: 01/03/2018
Location: Tarrant County
Violation: Misapplication of Fiduciary Property, 1st Degree Felony
Action Taken: Sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay $8.6 million

In Tarrant County, Nancy Carroll, the former owner of Millennium Title in Keller, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay $8.6 million after a Texas Department of Insurance investigation found she had stolen millions from her clients and investors. The scheme came to light when transactions began to fail because of lack of funds. Millennium Title was ordered into liquidation, and Carroll fled Texas. She was arrested near Chicago in February 2016, where investigators say she was renting a 6,000-square-foot home and driving a Mercedes Benz.

For more information, contact: FraudUnit@tdi.texas.gov

Last updated: 8/14/2023