A former chief executive officer of a statistical agent that compiles data
from insurance companies for state insurance departments has been sent
enced on charges related to her theft of millions of dollars from the organization.
According to court records out of U.S. District Court for the Southern District
of Indiana, Theresa Szwast earlier this month was sentenced to 33 months in prison on a wire fraud charge. The court als
o said Szwast, who was the CEO of the National Independent Statistical
Service (NISS) from 2005 to 2022, must pay refund of the nearly $2.2 million
she stole, plus pay a fine of $5,000. She will have supervised release for 2 years after prison.
Szwast was originally indicted in October 2024 on 11 counts of wire fraud.
She was arrested on Oct. 23 of that year. In May 2025, Szwast changed an original plea of not guilty to guilty on one count of wire fraud.
According to the federal indictment, Szwast “devised and executed a scheme to defraud” Indianapolis-based NISS beginning aro
und September 2005 until at least May 2022. Szwast, of Fishers, Indiana, transferred funds from the organization to her pers
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onal credit accounts, and wrote hundreds of checks to herself, said the indictment. She spent the money on golf, travel, and wine.
As CEO of NISS, for which she was paid about $188,000 in 2022, Szwast “was entrusted with maintaining an accurate accounti
ng of the books and records for [NISS], as well as contracting with a certified public accounting firm to conduct annual financial au
dits of [NISS]’s finances.” She never contracted with an outside CPA, federal at
troneys meaningful, and false audit reports and financial statements to the NISS board.
About a year ago, a Marion Superior Court judge in Indiana issued a default judgment in NISS’s favor against Szwast fo
r her failure to comply with court procedure. In the case, NISS said it suffered a loss
s of about $438,226. The court awarded treble damages of about $1.3 million.
In September 2022 Jeff Paterson was appointed interim CEO of NISS to replac
e Szwast, who left after nearly 30 years of service, according to NISS. Patterson was made full-time president and CEO in May 2023.