HAMLET — Two Richmond County insurance agents are facing felony fraud charges after allegedly collecting more than $30,000 combined in commissions from applications with false information.
N.C. Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey announced Wednesday that a criminal summons had been served to 34-year-old Christian LaFabian Ratliff and 43-year-old Jamel Dante Buie, with charges coming from special agents of the Department of Insurance’s Criminal Investigations Division.
According to a DOI spokesman, both Ratliff and Buie are separate independent agents.
Ratliff, of Jenkins Covington Road in Rockingham, is accused of obtaining $29,528.33 in commissions by submitting life insurance applications containing false information to two insurance companies between Oct. 16, 2020 and Aug. 24, 2021, according to a press release.
Buie, of Earle Franklin Drive in Hamlet, allegedly obtained $4,758 in commissions after submitting false applications to an insurance company between Nov. 9 and Dec. 30, 2020.
Both were served a summons on March 10 and were scheduled to appear in court Thursday.
Ratliff is charged with two felony counts each of insurance fraud and obtaining property by false pretenses, as well as two misdemeanor counts of making false statements in an application for insurance. Buie is facing one count each of the aforementioned charges.
“Insurance fraud is not a victimless crime,” Causey said in a statement. “It hits all of us in the pocket through higher premiums.”
Online records with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners show Ratliff’s license, which was issued Sept. 30, 2020, was voluntarily surrendered on Dec. 17, 2021. Buie’s license, still listed as active, was issued Oct. 27, 2020.
Both business addresses are listed in Hamlet.
Their next court date is scheduled for June 2.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Anyone who suspects insurance fraud is encouraged to call the NCDOI Criminal Investigations Division at 919-807-6840 or visit ncdoi.gov.
