Posted Friday, March 26, 2010 --- 10:05 a.m.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- A judge has sentenced a former insurance executive to prison time for bilking his company out of more than $1 million in phony claims.

U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb told Douglas Nickerson on Thursday she was glad he took responsibility for the crime, but chastised him for failing to own up to his gambling addiction.

She sentenced Nickerson to three years and 10 months in prison and ordered him to repay General Casualty Insurance and its insurer more than $1 million.

Nickerson was the former property program manager for General Casualty, a regional insurer headquartered in Sun Prairie.

The Wisconsin State Journal reports Nickerson carried out a scheme from 2003 to 2008 in which he issued checks for what appeared to be legitimate claims and then received kickbacks from companies.

Information from:
Wisconsin State Journal
http://www.madison.com/wsj

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