Juno insurance firm shut down

By Phil Galewitz, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 9, 2002

TALLAHASSEE --Florida Insurance Commissioner Tom Gallagher on Tuesday shut down a Juno Beach-based company that allegedly was posing as a union in a phony health insurance scam. Service and Business Workers of America Local 125, based in Juno Beach, was ordered to stop selling unlicensed insurance coverage to individuals and independent contractors.

However, the department's order alleges that SBWA Local 125 is not a union but a front for selling phony health coverage. Department officials said most of people who bought policies from SBWA were in Texas and Illinois; only a few were in Florida.

SBWA Local 125 attempted to legitimize its business operation by claiming to be backed by two insurance companies: United International Insurance and Brittania International Life & Casualty Ltd. However, neither company is licensed in Florida or any other state.

The department has also filed an administrative complaint against Richard Oleck of Boca Raton, one of the licensed agents who marketed SBWA Local 125's unauthorized products. Under Florida law, if an unlicensed entity fails to pay claims, agents who sold the unlicensed coverage may be held responsible for unpaid claims. Oleck also faces the loss of his agent license.