Earl O'Garro has lost his state insurance license, and his company has lost its license, too. The state said O'Garro never responded to an extensive eleven-count complaint filed against him last month. As a result, the state has revoked the licenses he and his company held to sell insurance.
"He can't conduct the business of insurance in the State of Connecticut," said insurance department spokesperson Donna Tommelleo.
O'Garro had a hearing scheduled for later this month. It has now been canceled. He has 60 days to ask the state to reconsider.
O'Garro is the man at the center of a federal grand jury investigation involving the city of Hartford and its treasurer, Adam Cloud.
More to come.
UPDATE: Today is the deadline for the city to respond to the federal subpoena asking for documents related to the investigation. In a statement, the city says that response was submitted "well in advance and we are prepared to continue cooperating with the investigation."
SECOND UPDATE: Below are the script and the audio from tonight's story.
There are new developments in the insurance scandal in the city of Hartford. As WNPR's Jeff Cohen reports, the state has revoked the insurance license of the man at the center of the federal grand jury investigation.
Earl O'Garro was supposed to take $670,000 from the city and use that money to pay its insurance premiums. But he never did. And it turns out he had troubles with other clients, too -- troubles that landed him with an 11-count complaint from the state insurance department.
O'Garro and his company, Hybrid Insurance Agency, had until today to respond to the complaint. But neither did. So the state took away O'Garro's license, and they took away the license of his company, too. He now has 60 days to ask the state to reconsider.
But O'Garro's troubles don't stop with the state insurance department. State economic development officials say he's defaulted on a $100,000 loan. Lenders on a home he owns have foreclosed. His Middletown restaurant is shuttered. And federal prosecutors are looking into his business dealings with the city and its treasurer, Adam Cloud.
O'Garro has not responded to several requests for comment. But he did give a one-on-one interview this week to NBC Connecticut's George Colli. In it, O'Garro said he wasn't able to comment on the city's missing $670,000. He also said he's not been sent a federal subpoena -- as have the city and the state. Both had to send documents to federal prosecutors by today. Despite what appears to be an overwhelming crush of bad news for O'Garro, the businessman says that these kinds of troubles come with the territory.
"I think when you do business in a city like this, and you do it well, this is what happens."
