Espanola Agent Charged with Bilking Clients of $52,000

An Espanola, N.M., insurance agent has been charged with embezzling more than $52,000 from his clients.

A grand jury indictment of 60 criminal counts was filed Friday against Dennis O’Brien in district court in Santa Fe, N.M.

O’Brien was named along with former Superintendent of Insurance Eric Serna in a civil suit filed by nine northern New Mexicans in April.

In the latest indictment, O’Brien faces one count each of embezzlement, interfering with an insurance examiner and racketeering and 57 counts of diverting money from a fiduciary fund.

He is scheduled to enter a plea on the charges Oct. 23.

O’Brien’s attorney did not return a phone call seeking comment Friday.

According to the indictment, O’Brien is accused of taking money intended to pay insurance premiums to Viking Insurance Co., Progressive Insurance Co. and Traders Insurance Co. He also is accused of taking money from a Century Bank account that was supposed to pay insurance premiums, the indictment said.

O’Brien also is accused of misleading an examiner appointed by Serna about a request for bank records, the indictment said.

The indictment also alleged that O’Brien engaged in racketeering from Jan. 10, 2003, through June 29, 2005.

The civil suit filed by residents of Rio Arriba and Santa Fe counties alleged O’Brien had bilked the plaintiffs by keeping their insurance premiums. It also accused Serna of pressuring his employees to stop investigating complaints against O’Brien.

Both Serna and O’Brien have denied the civil suit allegations. Lawyers for former Serna have asked a federal judge to limit questioning by plaintiffs’ lawyers during the deposition, allowing them to ask nothing else “other than his name.”

Robert Gorence, Serna’s attorney, said that although Serna expects to be exonerated, there are two pending investigations by the FBI and attorney general’s office that involve Serna.

The state attorney general’s office has been looking into Serna’s dealings with a bank that does business with the state Insurance Division and has donated to a foundation that Serna helped create.

“Plaintiffs’ deposition will likely seek to delve deeply into Mr. Serna’s financial dealings and holdings, which likewise are or may be relevant or potentially relevant to the criminal investigation,” Gorence wrote in court documents filed this month.

While Serna has a right to invoke his privilege against self-incrimination, the plaintiffs’ attorneys argue that he should either have to answer questions or assert his rights under the Fifth Amendment since there is no pending indictment or criminal prosecution against him.

Serna has not been charged with a crime. He retired as insurance superintendent in May.