Allstate insurance cuts ties with arrested ex-employee

Feb. 11--DUNNELLON -- An insurance giant has cut ties with a former employee after the individual was arrested last month and charged with using a client's information to open a business.

A spokeswoman for Allstate, Cathy Mayo, told the Star-Banner in an email that "the agency owner is no longer affiliated with Allstate."

Mayo would not give a status of their internal investigation that had been launched against Kevin Day, a former associate, after his arrest. She said in the meantime anyone with any questions about their policy can contact a local Allstate agent or call 1-800-ALLSTATE, 24-hours a day, seven days a week.

Kevin M. Day, the man centered around the probe, could not be reached Friday for a comment. Court records show Day is being represented by local attorney David Mengers. At his arraignment last month, a plea of not guilty was entered and Day demands a jury trial, court documents show. Prosecutors have filed charges against Day, according to court filings.

Day's Allstate branch at 20170 E. Pennsylvania Ave. was closed on Friday and the office was empty.

Lisa Sheffield, the owner of the building that was occupied by Day's Allstate branch, confirmed to the Star-Banner on Friday that Day had closed the business. By phone, Sheffield said Day did not say what his future plans would be and she did not ask him what he was going to do next. Sheffield said she wished Day well, and described him as a "hard worker."

"I wish him well. I've no complaints about him," she said.

Day was arrested by a Dunnellon Police Department officer on Jan. 18 and charged with two counts of uttering a forged instrument and one count of criminal use of personal identification information. He was released the same day on $6,000 bond.

A Dunnellon police official met with the owner of another Allstate branch. The owner said she suspected Day of forging documents stating a client -- who is an Allstate customer-- was going to give Day $100,000 to start an insurance business.

Day, who formerly worked at the woman's Allstate branch, wanted to purchase her business, but she refused. When she found out that Day had bought an Allstate branch, she decided to investigate.

The woman was able to give the police officer bank statements belonging to the victim that had the client's signature stating he would "gift Day $100,000 for an insurance business venture," according to the officer's report. The woman said she contacted the victim about the documents and he told her he never made any agreement with Day to help him open a business.

The officer had the victim sign his name and compared the signature to documents he had and it did not match. The officer got documents from Allstate that showed two letters, dated March and June 2017, promising $100,000 to Day and signed by the victim. The officer also received several bank statements with account balances and transactions that belong to the victim.

When Day was arrested, he told the officer he did not sign the victim's name.

Contact Austin L. Miller at 867-4118, [email protected] or @almillerosb.

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