ATLANTA — A jury today convicted suspended Georgia insurance commissioner Jim Beck of all 37 counts of fraud and money laundering charges against him. Beck’s conviction caps off a two-week federal trial.
Beck, who was indicted months after being elected to statewide office in 2019, was accused of masterminding a scheme to steal more than $2.5 million from state-created insurance company Georgia Underwriting Association. Beck managed the state-chartered private insurer before he took office as the state’s top insurance regulator.
Prosecutors argued Beck dreamed up a scheme to funnel money to himself through a series of companies without providing many of the services he told investigators he performed.
“The evidence makes completely clear that Jim Beck … is a thief,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Gray said at trial. “He is an ordinary, plain, fast-talking — and rich — fraudster.”
But defense attorney Bill Thomas repeatedly told jurors that investigators didn’t understand the insurance business and that prosecutors hadn’t provided enough evidence to merit a conviction. He told jurors, “the government just has it wrong in this case” because Beck’s work transformed GUA from a longtime money-loser to a strongly profitable entity.
After Beck was suspended, Governor Brian Kemp appointed John King as Georgia Insurance and Fire Safety Commissioner. In a statement released Thursday, King said: “While today is a somber one for our state, I commend the U.S. Attorney’s office and our law enforcement professionals for their work bringing this case to a close and ensuring justice for the gross misuse of Georgia Underwriting Association dollars.”
“When Governor Kemp appointed me to this role, I was tasked with restoring integrity and ethics to this office, and that’s been my priority since day one. I look forward to continuing to move this Agency into the future, leaving behind the corruption of the past and putting Georgia consumers first.”
Beck is scheduled to be sentenced on October 8.
