STANLY COUNTY, N.C. — A Stanly life insurance agent is facing 72 charges in connection with identity theft, fraud, and obtaining property by false pretenses.
Channel 9’s Gina Esposito looked into all 72 charges and found that most of the victims are spread out across the Charlotte area.
Court records show Ashley Barnhardt is accused of using her capacity as an insurance agent to retain her clients’ and their beneficiaries’ personal identifying information.
She then used that information to manipulate policy applications for her own financial gain, collecting more than $25,000 in advanced commission payments from two separate life insurance companies, according to court documents.
Barnhardt works as a life insurer for seven different companies.
In one case, investigators found that she used a woman’s personal and financial information to file two fraudulent life insurance applications: one with Transamerica Life Insurance and one with Occidental Life Insurance of NC.
With Transamerica Life Insurance, she obtained more than $1,400 in an unearned advance commission payment, according to court documents.
Barnhardt is set to appear in court next week in Stanly County.
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