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The former Dumas insurance agent faces 52 felony counts in Desha County Circuit Court and is accused of keeping customers paying premiums for policies that never existed.
Joshua Jackson-Smith, 40, was indicted on October 5 with 49 felonies of fraudulent insurance conduct, including selling insurance without a license and issuing fake insurance ID cards. rice field. 2 counts of property theft. 1 second degree forgery.
Smith worked as an agent for Desha Insurance Inc., also known as Dumas’ First Arkansas Insurance. Desha Insurance was run by David A. Smith, his unindicted Smith father.
Desha Insurance closed its offices in mid-September after selling assets to Everett Cash Mutual Insurance Co. in Everett, Pennsylvania, according to the Arkansas Department of Insurance.
Prosecutors say the charges against Josh Smith involve five victims, all of whom are farmers, but not all charges apply to each victim.
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In 2020, Desha County’s Danny Day Jr. and his son C. Bradley Day purchased insurance from Smith to cover the farm, according to a report by Arkansas Department of Insurance investigator James Cretha. I have a case. It was filed in Smith’s criminal case.
Between July 2020 and March 2021, Days paid Smith about $100,000 in premiums, prosecutors said.
However, when Days filed five claims totaling approximately $60,000, the claims were rejected, Kulesa said.
Smith also provided Danny Day with two proofs of insurance for the tractor and trailer, which Cresa writes were fake.
Cresa said he interviewed Smith in November 2021.
“Smith admitted that the insurance card issued to Danny Day was fraudulent.”
Smith did not return the message left on his cell phone from the Arkansas business. He pleaded not guilty on his November 7th. Smith’s criminal defense attorneys, Matthew Fremister of Nelson & Marks of Bentonville, were not reached for comment.
But court filings offer a glimpse into the legal troubles surrounding Josh Smith.
He started working for Desha Insurance in 2011 and earned $40,000 in 2017 and 2018, according to bankruptcy filings.
In March 2019, Smith was supposed to renew his insurance license, but didn’t, Cretha writes. Nor was he legally allowed to sell insurance without a valid license.
Married couple filing for bankruptcy
Smith, meanwhile, was facing financial difficulties. In October 2019, Smith and his wife Laura Brooke Smith filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy reorganization.
The couple listed assets of $182,500, liabilities of $210,700 and student loan debt of $100,000.
Immediately after filing for bankruptcy, allegations of fraud arose in the handling of his insurance policies.
Freddie Bartlett of Dumas believed he purchased insurance from Smith for his farm and equipment in November 2020.
After one of Bartlett’s buildings collapsed during a winter blizzard, he claimed about $100,000 through Smith. However, the bill was never paid.
Bartlett told Arkansas Business, “I kept asking him why he wasn’t getting paid. He was always making excuses.”
Ultimately, Bartlett contacted the insurance department. “It wasn’t about the money at that point,” he said.
In December 2021, Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Alan McClain issued a cease and desist order against Smith to stop him from selling insurance.
Smith “claimed a position as an active licensed insurance producer” when he was not, McClane wrote in the order.
Meanwhile, Days also had problems with Smith.
In November 2021, Days filed a lawsuit against Smith, his father, David Smith, and Desha Insurance seeking damages and alleging breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty. Defendants deny the allegations of wrongdoing.
Criminal files say Days received two insurance cards. However, according to a report from investigator Cressa, one of them was found to have an invalid policy number. She already had a valid policy number for one, but a different status for another policyholder.
In an affidavit filed in a civil suit on November 18, 2022, David Smith said he learned through discovery that he had insurance cards that “appeared to come from Joshua Smith’s computer.”
David Smith said his son “is not authorized to do this and the information on those cards is incorrect.”
A civil lawsuit is pending.
Josh Smith was arrested on October 7 and released on a bond of $50,000.
Smith’s jury trial is scheduled to begin on April 4 in the Desha County Courthouse before Circuit Judge Robert Gibson III.
