Forty days into the project, Collins says, Chubb staff members called HR Brun to say the bond Collins paid for was fraudulent.
JLM attorney Philip Savrin claims JLM acted only as an intermediary, receiving a commission from the $36,000 premium from Collins and passing on the remainder to another broker. Savrin could not provide documentation of the other broker’s involvement, but he says the federal government is investigating the matter.
In the meantime, says Collins, no one has refunded his premium. “JLM says that they paid for the bond and were defrauded as well,” Collins says.
Chicago Broker Listed
One of the most interesting figures linked to the HR Brun bond transactions is Lawrence C. Polec, a Chicago-based surety-bond broker and individual surety underwriter. He is listed as a producer along with JLM Risk Management's Darryl Dortch on an invoice from JLM for the $36,000 premium paid by Collins in September 2012.
Polec has insurance licenses in Illinois and Michigan, according to statements of his qualifications in lawsuits in which he served as an insurance expert witness.
Listed as 6 ft, 8 in., tall, Polec was a standout in varsity basketball at Michigan State University in the 1980s and played professionally for several years in Spain.
In his insurance career, Polec was formerly an employee of Zervos Group Inc., a collection of insurance and risk-management companies.
Polec now serves as president and CEO of his own company, Krisilis LLC—an individual surety-bond brokerage—and underwriting manager of AIM Direct Insurance Trust, a Bermuda-based reinsurance company, according to websites and corporate records.
Asked in an initial phone interview about his listing as producer of the HR Brun bonds by JLM, Polec implied that ENR was investigating the matter because of perceived scrutiny or influence from the NASBP. It has been working to convince Congress to tighten up requirements for individual sureties and alerting state insurance departments of what NASBP considers instances of unlicensed practice.
In a second phone interview with his attorney, however, Polec and his attorney explained that they have no idea why Polec was listed as a producer or agent. All Polec intended to do was to make a friendly referral, they claim.
“We’re all in the good spirit of doing things the right way,” Polec said in the second phone interview. About Collins and the HR Brun bonds, Polec said, “JLM handled the transaction, and I received no compensation … [the fraudulent bonds] did not touch my hands."
Polec has no connection to the fraudulently produced Chubb bonds in Maryland and Florida.
But he was involved with Broughton's attempt to hold on to the Navy project.
When Broughton Construction discovered its Chubb bonds were faked, the contractor submitted substitute individual surety bonds from AIM Direct Insurance Trust, one of Polec’s business entities. St. Mary’s County, the owner of the Navy museum and visitors-center project, refused to accept those bonds from Broughton on the grounds that the producer was an individual surety, not a Treasury-listed surety.
Darius X. Johnson's Deposition
The president of AIM Direct Insurance Trust is Darius X. Johnson, a former general practice lawyer registered as a member of the bar in New York State. He also is associated with the entities AF Global Revest and Diamond Indemnity Trust. Johnson says he no longer practices law and has no licenses to practice insurance on a state level.
