06 LC
36 0198
House
Bill 1539
By:
Representative Coan of the
101st
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
Code
Section 33-1-9 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to insurance
fraud, venue, penalty, and exemption, so as to provide that issuing, with the
intent to defraud, any certificate of insurance which alters or represents any
policy coverage, exclusion, provision, or condition in any form other than
actually contained in the policy shall constitute a crime of insurance fraud;
provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other
purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Code
Section 33-1-9 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to insurance
fraud, venue, penalty, and exemption, is amended by striking subsections (d),
(e), and (f) and inserting in their place new subsections (d) through (g) to
read as follows:
"(d)
Any natural
person who knowingly and willfully with intent to defraud issues any certificate
of insurance or other evidence of coverage which alters or purports to alter any
policy coverage, exclusion, provision, or condition, or represents that any
policy coverage, exclusion, provision, or condition is applicable in any form
other than that actually contained in the policy commits the crime of insurance
fraud.
(e)
In any prosecution under this Code section, the crime shall be considered as
having been committed in the county of the purported loss, in the county in
which the insurer or the
insureŕs
agent received the fraudulent or false claim or application, in the county in
which money was received for the fraudulent application, or in any county where
any act in furtherance of the criminal scheme was committed.
(e)(f)
A natural person convicted of a violation of this Code section shall be guilty
of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than two nor more
than ten years, or by a fine of not more than $10,000.00, or both.
(f)(g)
Subsection (b) of this Code section shall not apply to a contract of insurance
entered into in accordance with Article 2 of Chapter 5 of this
title."
SECTION
2.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.