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Private school and college tuition. Construction of homes. Expenses for a daughter's wedding.
Those are a few of the personal items that the state of Ohio alleges were paid for by Robert Lucia, former owner of Credit General Insurance Co., with some of more than $30 million diverted from the Beachwood commercial insurance company.
The Ohio Department of Insurance last week sued Mr. Lucia, whom the agency alleges engineered a civil conspiracy to "convert, divert and transfer" company funds for personal use. The lawsuit also targets two former Credit General executives who allegedly were aware of the diversion and breached their fiduciary duty to the company by failing to take any actions to stop it.
In addition to Mr. Lucia, who now lives in West Palm Beach, Fla., the defendants in the lawsuit are former Credit General treasurer and vice president John Boyko of Broadview Heights, and another former treasurer and vice president, Gregory A. Fazekash of Hudson. The three men no longer are involved with Credit General, which once employed 250 and was licensed to conduct business in 48 states but now is in the process of being liquidated by the state.
The lawsuit, filed last Monday, June 11, in Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, stated that Mr. Lucia beginning in...