Broker jailed

An insurance broker has been sentenced in the Auckland District Court today to four years and six months’ imprisonment following a Serious Fraud Office  prosecution.

Last month, Grant Malcolm Herbert was found guilty by a jury of 17 Crimes Act charges and seven Secret Commissions Act charges.

The former owner and director of the insurance brokering firm Herbert Insurance Group Limited (HIG), had received premiums from clients but failed to forward approximately $2.5 million of this to insurers, in some cases leaving the customers uninsured. He diverted this money to pay operating expenses for HIG.

He had also given an employee of an insured customer secret commissions for referring insurance business to HIG. That company was overcharged about $220,000 for its insurance.