A Crofton, Maryland woman has pleaded guilty in two separate felony theft schemes, according to Attorney General Anthony G. Brown. On Monday in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court, Carolyn Rae Aldridge admitted to stealing a combined total of $185,296.28 during the two schemes, reported the attorney general’s office. In the first scheme, between August 2017 and January 2021, Aldridge stole 96 checks from her then-employer, American Builders Corp, Inc. for a total loss of $173,004.43. Aldridge worked as the office manager for ABC Builders and used her position to steal the checks and deposit them into her personal bank account.…
Author: Awais
AP Benefit Advisors, LLC, owned by AssuredPartners Capital, Inc., filed suit on March 13, 2026, in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. The case names former account executive Kelly Hess, former AP employee Jason Rilley, and DelMarVa Insurance Brokers LLC as defendants. AP describes what it calls a deliberate, coordinated effort to divert client accounts generating more than $75,000 in annual revenue.
The head of the International Maritime Organization has said that naval escorts through the Strait of Hormuz will not “100 percent guarantee” the safety of ships attempting to transit the waterway, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. Military assistance was “not a long-term or sustainable solution” to opening up the strait, Arsenio Dominguez told FT. The critical Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flow, remains largely closed off, raising energy prices and fears of inflation. Read more: US $20B Reinsurance Plan Unlikely to Restart Gulf Shipping Without Liability Cover The closure is…
The city of New Haven’s insurance company is insisting that the city pay back the $3.55 million the insurer paid to settle claims over a 2019 rooming house fire in which two people were killed. Pennsylvania Manufacturers Association Insurance Co. has alleged that the Connecticut city breached the terms of its excess insurance policy by not informing it of the wrongful death claims “as soon as practicable” but instead waiting five years when the trial had already begun before notifying it. Both of the underlying lawsuits alleged that the fire victims were residents of a West Street building that was…
AM Best reports it has revised the outlooks to stable from negative and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A+ (Superior) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICR) of “aa-” (Superior) of Amica Mutual Insurance Co. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Amica Property and Casualty Insurance Co. At the same time, AM Best has revised the outlooks to stable from negative and affirmed the FSR of A+ (Superior) and the Long-Term ICR of “aa-” (Superior) of Amica Life Insurance Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Amica Mutual. The Amica Mutual companies are domiciled in Lincoln, Rhode Island. The…
Zenkyoren has returned to the catastrophe bond market to add to its capital market backed aggregate Japanese earthquake reinsurance protection, with an initial $100 million target for this new Nakama Re Pte. Ltd. (Series 2026-1) sponsorship, Artemis has learned.Zenkyoren, the Japanese National Mutual Insurance Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives, buys one of the largest catastrophe reinsurance towers in the world and it has been utilising the capital markets for protection via sponsorship of series of catastrophe bonds since 2003. This new Nakama Re 2026-1 issuance will be the sixteenth catastrophe bond directly sponsored by Zenkyoren that we have listed in our…
Insuring vessels to sail through the Strait of Hormuz is still possible, even if at a very high cost, according to people involved in the market. The cost of coverage has leaped to about 5% of the value of a ship, roughly five times the level seen in the earliest days of the Iran war, and an even larger multiple of the fractions of a percentage point seen in periods when there’s relatively little conflict, the people said, asking not to be named discussing private information. That means insuring an oil tanker worth $100 million would cost about $5 million.…
Chicago’s real estate industry has ignited a battle over a $19 billion tax bill that property owners say is holding back new construction and contributing to surging rents. Donors have poured $1.4 million in the past six months into the campaign to unseat Fritz Kaegi, the tax assessor responsible for valuing properties in Cook County. Contributors include the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and political action committees tied to hotels, merchants and construction workers. He will face Pat Hynes, backed by many in the real estate industry and the Cook County Democratic Party, in this week’s March 17 Democratic primary elections.…
When Raven Kinser walked into a Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles office two summers ago, she completed a driver’s license application that included the option to register as an organ donor. The form provides a checkbox to opt in, but not one to opt out. Kinser left the donor registration box unchecked, reflecting her decision to reverse an earlier donor registration. Six months later, after she was declared dead at Riverside Regional Medical Center in Newport News, Virginia, her parents say, they learned that her decision did not prevent organ procurement. Raven’s case reveals a little-known gap in the U.S.…
A Pakistani tanker earlier this week became the latest vessel to sail out through the Strait of Hormuz by hewing closely to the Iranian coast, suggesting an approved route that points to Tehran’s tightening grip on the narrow waterway — even as the US seeks to assert control. The Pakistani-flagged Karachi — which openly signaled it was transiting through the chokepoint — sailed through a narrow gap between the two Iranian islands of Larak and Qeshm on Sunday, before tracking the coast into the Gulf of Oman, according to vessel-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. Two bulk carriers which had called…
The outbreak of hostilities in the Middle East and surging energy costs are expected to exacerbate soaring levels of financial distress among European corporates, according to Alvarez & Marsal Inc. Even before the US and Israel began their attacks on Iran on Feb. 28, financial strain among the continent’s businesses was at a four-year high, a new report from the consultancy firm released on Tuesday said. “The escalating conflict in the Middle East is likely acting as a multiplier for the distress we are already tracking across the European landscape,” Chris Johnston, a managing director in Alvarez & Marsal’s European…
Woods brings more than 18 years of insurance experience across product, underwriting, risk management, analytics, and technology‑driven solutions. At Travelers, he held leadership roles in product management, platforms, third‑party data, catastrophe risk management, and underwriting automation, most recently serving as vice president, portfolio solutions.
Amid the last-minute scramble to move legislation before the non-budgetary session was set to end last week, Florida lawmakers quietly approved a bill that could open up more contaminated “brownfield” areas in south Florida to housing development. But the bill, if signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis, could also lead to frustration and litigation from homeowners and builders who may be denied insurance coverage or claims for structures built on once-polluted lands, attorneys and insurance agents said. “This legislation is likely to generate several categories of litigation, includinginsurance coverage disputes, construction defect/toxicexposure claims, mass tort litigation, andgovernment preemption challenges,”…
Investment in AI infrastructure via off-balance sheet debt is increasing the exposure of insurers and private credit funds to hyperscalers, according to officials at the Bank for International Settlements. “Alongside traditional bonds, hyperscalers have turned to off‑balance sheet arrangements to finance infrastructure expansions, often in partnership with private credit firms,” BIS officials Egemen Eren, Ingomar Krohn and Karamfil Todorov said in a note Monday. “These structures strengthen links between hyperscalers and non‑bank investors.” The comments add to warnings about the debt frenzy to support the artificial intelligence revolution. With so many lenders lining up to throw cash at assets, the…