Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 18, 1990 TAG: 9007180202
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
Reginald L. Duckett, 53, pleaded guilty to embezzlement during a hearing in Roanoke Circuit Court.
Judge Clifford Weckstein asked for a background report on Duckett before he is sentenced. He faces a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison.
Testimony Tuesday showed that Duckett, who headed a State Farm office on Melrose Avenue, took the money from premium checks from 74 accounts.
Peter Sullivan, a fraud detective with the Roanoke Police Department, testified that State Farm officials contacted him late last year about a possible embezzlement scheme in Duckett's office.
Sullivan determined that Duckett was depositing checks from policyholders into a State Farm operating account and then was writing checks to himself from the account. Checks to State Farm to cover the premiums later bounced, Sullivan said.
In other cases, Duckett took payments for premiums and did not remit them at all, Sullivan said. The embezzlement totaled $12,295.21 and lasted from May to July of 1989.
Since the embezzlement was detected, Duckett has voluntarily turned in his license to sell insurance.
Of the amounts that were taken from more than 75 accounts, the largest was $526. State Farm has reimbursed the affected policyholders, Sullivan said.
by CNB