Ex-Insurance Agent Indicted on Mail Fraud Counts

A former Marshalltown, Iowa, insurance agent has been indicted on federal mail fraud charges after being accused of defrauding customers for nearly a decade.

The Marshalltown Times-Republican reports that 65-year-old William Arthur Thiede was charged with five counts of mail fraud in the indictment handed down last week.

Authorities say Thiede took nearly $168,000 in payments people made on phony insurance policies from January 2002 until he left American Family Insurance in September 2010.

Thiede is a former president of the Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce.

A Marshalltown phone listing for Thiede was disconnected Tuesday.