By Jon King / jking@whmi.com


A former Livingston County insurance agent has entered a plea to felony embezzlement filed charges by the Michigan Attorney General’s Office.

Court records indicate that 45-year-old Alicia Holbrook-Bloink of Howell recently pleaded no contest to conducting a criminal enterprise, embezzling more than $100,000 and failure to file a tax return. It was part of a plea agreement with prosecutors that dropped various other charges including four counts of identity theft.

Authorities say Holbrook-Bloink defrauded clients of more than $375,000 between 2015 and 2018 through her firm, Holbrook Insurance Agency, LLC. The company was eventually shut down by regulators with the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services.

Assistant Attorney General Ashley Schwartz previously testified that Holbrook-Bloink took money from clients who paid in advance, but then forged financial agreements with underwriters, which would typically go unpaid and then be canceled without clients being aware the policy was no longer in effect. Holbrook-Bloink later stopped forging the agreements and “would just steal the client’s money” without attempting to issue a policy.

Holbrook-Bloink had faced up to 20 years in prison on the original charges, but will now face a one year jail sentence, with the first four months served immediately. In addition to having to pay restitution, she will also be required to close her insurance company and forfeit any insurance licenses.

Sentencing for Holbrook-Bloink is set for January 27th.