Mich. Woman Admits Bilking $1M from Seniors' Life Insurance Accounts
A Michigan woman has admitted she took nearly $1 million from senior citizens' life insurance accounts.
Bobbi Jo Fritz, 48, of Pigeon, Mich., pleaded guilty to four felony counts of uttering and publishing checks for more than $20,000 and one count of embezzlement of more than $20,000. She was originally charged with 11 counts of embezzlement.
Fritz took the money from the life insurance policies of five Huron County senior citizens over the past 10 years while she was employed at Armbruster Farm Bureau Insurance Agency, authorities said.
Huron County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Stephen Allen said Fritz changed the victims' addresses on the accounts, then had checks sent to a post office box she had set up.
She told Huron County Circuit Judge Richard Knoblock on Tuesday that she deposited the money into the agency's checking account.
In the plea deal, Fritz agreed to pay restitution to Farm Bureau Insurance Co., which repaid each of the victims in the case after an audit determined $978,000 had been taken.
Fritz's attorney, David Herrington, said Fitz did forge checks but she didn't keep the money.
"There is no missing money,'' Herrington told the Huron Daily Tribune. "As I understand it, the money was used to pay insurance agency bills. There needs to be a continuing audit. And we're working to confirm that.''
Knoblock said he wants both sides to tell him where the money is when Fritz is sentenced Oct. 30.
The uttering and publishing charges carry a possible sentence of up to 14 years in prison, while the embezzlement charge carries a possible 10-year prison term.
Farm Bureau Insurance was unaware of the missing money until August 2005, when a family member of one of the victims noticed changes made to the victim's life insurance account.
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