29-05-2025
Insurance agent, accused of fraud, perjury and forgery, is sanctioned
(Photo via Getty Images)
A former Iowa insurance agent accused of insurance fraud, perjury and forging financial records has been fined $3,000 by state regulators.
According to state unemployment records, Bryce Murphy, 33, of Dubuque County was working for the Naughton Insurance Agency in 2020 when the company discovered that three of Murphy's payroll checks had been altered to increase their value.
The company also discovered that a letter and pay stub Murphy provided to a credit union as evidence of his employment had been altered. Murphy was fired in November 2020 and an administrative law judge later determined his actions amounted to theft and forgery.
Three years later, in 2023, Murphy was criminally charged with identity theft, fraudulent practices in the first degree, forgery and two counts of insurance fraud.
The charges were tied to allegations that Murphy had amended his Farmer's Insurance homeowner's policy in 2019 to include two Rolex watches. A few months later, he reported to police his watches were stolen from a Minneapolis hotel room while he attended a Minnesota Vikings football game. He then filed an insurance claim for the reported theft, and Farmer's Insurance paid out $9,998 on the claim.
Three years later, while working for American Family Insurance, Murphy obtained an insurance policy from his employer for the same type of Rolex watches he had reported stolen in 2019.
I was so focused on making other people proud of me that I lost sight of my integrity and honesty.
– Bryce Murphy of Dubuque County
In September 2022, Murphy reported the two watches were stolen under similar circumstances as the 2019 incident: He alleged the watches disappeared from his luggage in a Minneapolis hotel as he attended another Vikings football game. He filed an insurance claim with American Family, which triggered an investigation that concluded the watches in question, assuming they were actually stolen, were most likely fake Rolexes.
Murphy later pleaded guilty to a charge of fraudulent practices and one count of insurance fraud, which resulted in 10-year and five-year prison sentences to run concurrently.
'I was so focused on making other people proud of me that I lost sight of my integrity and honesty,' Murphy informed the court prior to his sentencing.
In October 2024, the Iowa Insurance Division charged Murphy with four counts of regulatory violations. The charges were tied to the altered paychecks and letter from 2020, as well as newer claims related to allegedly fraudulent insurance claims and a failure to report his 2023 criminal prosecution.
At a hearing on the division's charges, Murphy testified he did, as originally claimed, have four Rolex watches that were stolen. He allegedly admitted the watches were fake Rolexes, but said he felt justified in insuring them for the value he personally assigned to them.
The administrative law judge who presided over the hearing recently concluded that while he was 'skeptical' Murphy had four watches stolen under such similar circumstances, the division had not proven the police reports and insurance claims were false.
Still, the judge noted, there was evidence Murphy overvalued the watches and falsified records, justifying the revocation of his license, which had already lapsed, and the imposition of a $3,000 civil penalty. Murphy has also been ordered to pay $3,460 for the division's prosecution of the case.
Murphy continues to face legal problems stemming from his 2023 arrest. Immediately after his sentencing in the criminal case, prosecutors reported finding inconsistencies in the financial affidavits Murphy had submitted to the court and informed the court Murphy was guilty of 'additional fraudulent activity' that was criminal in nature.
Since then, Murphy has been charged with three felony counts of perjury and entered a plea of not guilty. The case is still pending.
