By Tampa Bay Times Staff
A Plant City insurance agent who was twice arrested last year on charges that she stole thousands of dollars from her clients is facing additional charges after more people claimed she took their money.
Investigators with the state Division of Insurance Fraud have alleged that Paula Albertson, 53, stole more than $800,000 in the last five years from at least seven victims.
She was arrested again Thursday on two new charges of grand theft.
The new charges came after news of Albertson’s previous arrests prompted more victims to come forward, state authorities said.
In one of the new cases, Albertson changed a client’s mailing address to the address of her business, Albertson Financial Group, in order to divert mailed withdrawal notices for the client’s account, according to an arrest report. Albertson then forged six withdrawal requests from the client’s account, depositing more than $200,000 into her own account, authorities said.
In a previous case, Albertson is alleged to have named her family members as beneficiaries on a client’s life insurance policy. When the client died weeks later, the family collected more than $150,000, authorities said.
Albertson was booked on the new charges Thursday and later released on $30,000 bail.
