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Woman pleads guilty to stealing more than $300K from Pasco insurance company

According to court documents, Samantha Edson, 44, altered checks while working at All Insurance Underwriters Inc. and continued after her employment ended.
 
Samantha Edson, 44, pleaded guilty Friday in a Pasco County court to a charge of scheme to defraud of $50,000 or more, according to court records.
Samantha Edson, 44, pleaded guilty Friday in a Pasco County court to a charge of scheme to defraud of $50,000 or more, according to court records. [ Pasco County ]
Published Jan. 25, 2023|Updated Jan. 26, 2023

A Land O’ Lakes woman has pleaded guilty to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from an insurance company where she worked, according to Pasco County court records.

Samantha Edson, 44, began working as a payroll manager in 2012 at All Insurance Underwriters Inc. in Land O’ Lakes. According to court documents, between March 2018 and November 2019, Edson made checks out to herself from the company’s bank account and deposited them into her personal accounts.

Court records do not state how many checks Edson cashed between March 2018 and November 2019, but they totaled $361,210.70.

“All Insurance Underwriters would like to hold comment as it sadness us all that a trusted work family member would do such a thing,” Kevin Licciardello, the company’s president, wrote in an email to the Times.

After Edson was terminated from the company, according to court records, she began working in a financing role for the Quest Corporation of America, a communication and marketing company located near her previous employer. While working at Quest, court records state, Edson used an Adobe program to continue altering checks and depositing them into her own account.

She stole an additional $16,692 from All Insurance Underwriters in March and April 2020 while working at Quest, according to court records.

Court records show Edson pleaded guilty to a charge of scheme to defraud of $50,000 or more on Friday. A sentencing date has not been set yet.

Pasco County court records show Edson had a previous, unrelated fraud charge in 2012. That charge was dropped after she completed a pretrial diversion program.