The owner of a Norristown, Pa., insurance agency faces 43 charges linked to allegations that he stole more than $45,000 from elderly clients in six counties.

Brian Johnson

Brian Johnson, 61, of Norristown, Pa., a licensed agent and owner of Valley Forge Insurance Co., was arrested for collecting premiums from 14 different customers that were to be used as payments for long-term care or life insurance and instead, depositing the money into his and his company’s bank accounts, according to Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett.

Agents from the attorney general office’s Elder Abuse Unit filed criminal charges against Johnson on behalf of customers in Montgomery, Chester, Lancaster, York, Schuylkill and Philadelphia counties. The victims range in age from 75 years old to 96 years old.

Johnson’s alleged theft of the premium payments left customers without policies or cancelled policies for failure to pay their insurance companies, according to Corbett.

“Mr. Johnson’s clients believed they were purchasing long-term care insurance coverage, but instead were left with nothing,” Corbett said in a statement.  “This scam left these individuals vulnerable to damages and losses far greater than the money that was stolen from them.”

Johnson faces 14 counts of misapplication of entrusted property, 14 counts of theft by deception, 14 counts of theft by failure to make required disposition of funds and one count of insurance fraud.