Authorities say an insurance agent tricked a Grand Forks business into paying more than $64,000 for policies that did not exist.
David Glessner, 44, is set to be arraigned Wednesday on a felony theft charge.
According to court documents, Glessner admitted to an investigator that in exchange for the fictional policies, he received $64,872 from Dakota Fusion, an entity that's part of Brown Corporations Business Park and Properties, a Grand Forks-based real estate company owned by Randy Brown.
Glessner was the insurance agent for Dakota Fusion and oversaw multiple policies for Brown's businesses, including two policies insuring homes in the ski-resort town of Big Sky, Mont.
Brown, believing Dakota Fusion had paid the premiums on those two policies, became suspicious earlier this year when Glessner claimed the company owed money, court documents say.
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Brown contacted Safeco Insurance, the company that had supposedly issued the policies on the homes, and learned that the policies were fake, the documents say.
In June, Safeco's parent company, Liberty Mutual, contacted the North Dakota Insurance Department about the potentially fraudulent policies, and an investigation ensued.
Glessner, of Grand Forks, was licensed in North Dakota. But in July, state Insurance Commissioner Adam Hamm barred Glessner from selling insurance, alleging he had falsified Dakota Fusion's policies.
Glessner's attorney, James Hovey, did not return a message left at his office Monday. If convicted, Glessner will face a maximum prison term of 10 years.
Through a spokeswoman, Brown declined to comment on the case.
