Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens announced that Earle Turner, Sr., 67, of McDonough was arrested by Special Fraud Investigators from the Georgia Department of Insurance. Turner, a Certified Public Account was taken into custody at his DeKalb County business and charged with 19 counts of insurance fraud, 11 counts of identity fraud, and one count of theft by deception. Turner is accused of falsifying multiple life insurance applications and collecting over $11,000 in death benefits.

"Apprehending this suspect is a victory for all Georgia insurance consumers," said Commissioner
Hudgens. "Insurance fraud results in higher costs for us all."

According to the investigation, in May 2017, the Georgia Department of Insurance was notified by Mutual of Omaha of suspected fraudulent activity by Earle Turner, Sr. Mutual of Omaha indicated that they discovered three life insurance policies in their system with Turner named as the beneficiary. The
insurer contacted the individuals listed as the policyholder, and each stated they had not applied for life
insurance through the company and had not authorized Turner to do so on their behalf.

Following a six‐month investigation, GADOI Special Fraud Investigators found that Mr. Turner had
taken out life insurance policies on nineteen elderly adults without their knowledge or approval and
received approximately $11,345.70 in death benefit payouts on five of the policies. Investigators also
determined that Mr. Turner used the personal information he obtained from preparing his victim’s
taxes to file the fraudulent policies. If convicted, Turner could face up to 10 years in state prison.

“We have found no evidence that this suspect has an insurable interest in any of these individuals,”
said Deputy Insurance Commissioner Jay Florence. “Fortunately our investigators stopped this scheme
before more policies were submitted without the consumer’s knowledge.”

This investigation was conducted with assistance from Mutual of Omaha’s Corporate Investigation
Unit. Commissioner Hudgens would like to thank the DeKalb County Police Department for providing
support in the arrest of the suspect. The case will be prosecuted by the DeKalb County District
Attorney's Office.