A September trial for a Tampa woman charged with posing as an insurance agent keeping and thousands of dollars
lars in auto insurance premiums have been postponed until December.
Katrenia Lynette Harris, 54, was indicted by a federal grand jury
ry in June and a trial was set to begin September. 2 in federal court in Tampa. But that trial was postponed last week and a
plea agreement may soon be negotiated, court documents suggested.
Harris reported luring many people into sending her m
oney through Cash App, a digital wallet and transfer application, for auto policies with a major national insurance co
pany. Prosecutors said she had approached the warranty, posing as the would-be policyholders in order to obtain policies f
or vehicles. But then she absconded with the premium payments
, according to the federal indictment. The reported scam lasted from early 2017 through most of 2023.
The indictment indicated that at least four victim motorists were swi
ndled, but Harris may have obtained as much as $49,700 in the meaningful scheme. She will likely be required to forfeit thos
Watch More Image Part 2 >>>
e proceeds or other property, the court records indicate.
“It is further part of the scheme and artifice that Harris would and did fail to notify victim-customers of thei
r policy cancellation due to the fraudulent nature of their policies and/or non-payment of premiums,” the ind
ictment noted. “… As a result, victim-customers subsequently operated automobiles without required insurance under Florida
law … results in additional financial loss and other legal consequences” for some of the victims.
Florida Department of Financial Services records show no license information for an insurance agent or broker named Katrenia Harris.
In the pantheon of insurance fraudsters, posing as an agent and using a phone-based cash transfer is not u
nheard of, particularly in auto insurance schemes. In 2022, two people in Georgia were charged with creating a fake insuranc
e company and accepting premium payments through Cash App. Deamarkis Barber, 33, from Conyers, Georgia, was f
inally arrested in 2024, according to news reports.