Insurance Broker

A Superior Court judge yesterday refused to issue a restraining order that would stop two insurance agencies from representing Monroe Township. The agencies were appointed Jan. 6 by the mayor of Monroe, and the township council rescinded the appointments Jan. 15. Gloucester County Assignment Judge Samuel G. DeSimone refused to stop Charles T. Kroh, of the Charles T. Kroh Agency, and Joseph LaPorta, of LaPorta Associates, both of the Williamstown area...

A politically connected insurance broker pleaded guilty Friday to defrauding the Philadelphia Housing Authority of $2.3 million and is now naming names for federal authorities of public officials and others who allegedly have accepted bribes or kickbacks in return for business. Kobie T. West, 39, who took over West Insurance Group from his father and the firm's founder, Bernard T. West, has admitted to one count of wire fraud. With the help of a PHA accomplice, Kobie West created a fake invoice of $2,141,523 for worker's compensation coverage, then included a commission of $181,202 for the money he stole.

John T. Dwyer of Drexel Hill, 93, who retired in 1976 after 26 years as a self-employed insurance broker, died Wednesday at Little Flower Manor in Darby. Mr. Dwyer was born in Philadelphia and was a 1915 graduate of Roman Catholic High School. He was active in the school's affairs throughout his life. Mr. Dwyer was appointed Class of 1915 secretary-treasurer and was president of the Cahill Club, an alumni group, in 1950. He also served as trustee of the high school until 1985 and took an active part in the school's yearly carnivals.

Mildred Allen Cleary Blake, 93, of Newtown Square, an artist and retired insurance broker, died of a heart attack Monday at the Shores at Wesley Manor in Ocean City, N.J. Mrs. Blake grew up in North Philadelphia and graduated from Simon Gratz High School. As a child, she took courses at the Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial in South Philadelphia and later studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. She also worked as an artist's model, her daughter, Judith Schalk, said.

A memorial service will be held Tuesday for Donald G. Havlish Jr., 53, an insurance broker from Yardley presumed killed Sept. 11 in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City. Mr. Havlish, a senior vice president for Aon Consulting Corp., was working on the 101st floor of the South Tower. He called home and left a message minutes after the first hijacked plane had struck the North Tower. His wife, Fiona, said she had not been able to bring herself to listen to it, but she knows he said that although she would be hearing some very bad news, he was doing fine and would call her later on her cell phone.

In its first move last night, Camden school board's new and independent majority selected Rosemary Jackson to replace Elaine Bey as board president. Moments later, the new group threw out the Cherry Hill-based insurance firm of George E. Norcross 3d as primary broker and replaced it with a Camden-based minority firm. "This truly is a triumphant moment," Jackson told a room of about 75 cheering supporters after winning a 5-4 victory as president during the board's reorganization meeting at Forest Hill School.

The Camden School District's new insurance broker told board members last night that the district had been dangerously underinsured under its previous policies, and the firm boasted that it is providing broader coverage for less money. Alston Calaf & Associates, a Camden-based firm, said nine schools surveyed in the 20,000-student district had been underinsured by $7 million under the previous insurance broker, Cherry Hill-based Keystone National. Keystone National is run by former Camden County Democratic Party chairman George E. Norcross 3d. Under Alston Calaf's policy, the district stands to save $135,000 and still have 54 areas of increased coverage, owner and partner Gene Alston said.

The Delaware River Port Authority has wasted millions of dollars of toll payers' money through mismanagement and political cronyism, the New Jersey state comptroller said in a damning report issued Thursday. Comptroller Matthew Boxer chastised the DRPA for practices such as its much-criticized "economic development" spending and its now-halted free E-ZPass benefits for DRPA executives and their families and friends. Boxer also exposed an insurance payback deal allegedly orchestrated by George E. Norcross III, the South Jersey insurance executive and Democratic Party power broker who is chairman of the board of Cooper University Hospital in Camden.

HARRISBURG — After the latest scandal involving the Philadelphia Housing Authority, State Rep. Michael P. McGeehan wants to slow down the return of local control over the agency until federal authorities have finished multiple investigations. "We have no idea where these federal investigations are headed, how deep or broad they will run, or who or how many will be ensnared by their conclusion," McGeehan, (D., Phila.) said Tuesday at a news conference in the state Capitol. On Friday, an insurance broker, Kobie T. West, pleaded guilty to defrauding the PHA of $2.3 million in a scheme involving a housing authority accomplice.

This story was updated on May 21, 2012 A politically connected insurance broker pleaded guilty Friday to defrauding the Philadelphia Housing Authority of $2.3 million and is now naming names for federal authorities of public officials and others who allegedly have accepted bribes or kickbacks in return for business. Kobie T. West, 39, who took over West Insurance Group from his father and the firm's founder, Bernard T. West, has admitted to one count of wire fraud.

A businessman and former chief of staff to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regional administrator has been named the new Southeast regional administrator of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. Cosmo Servidio will join the agency Monday and work for the next few months with the current administrator, Joe Feola, who is retiring in July. Servidio worked for the EPA administrator of Region II, which includes New Jersey but not Pennsylvania. He also held high-level positions with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission, and the administration of former Gov. Christie Whitman.

From nuclear power to the Barnes Foundation, from a lucrative casino license to the Democratic machine in South Jersey, the new owners of The Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News, and Philly.com have long been influential players on hot-button issues. Local ownership poses editorial challenges for the news organizations, journalism experts and other analysts say. But the owners' local roots and wealth may give the papers crucial financial breathing room, they add. Mark Jurkowitz, associate director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, said coverage must not become a vehicle for the political or financial agendas of the new local owners.

T HE DELAWARE River Port Authority has wasted millions of dollars of toll payers' money through mismanagement and political cronyism, the New Jersey state comptroller said in a damning report Thursday. Comptroller Matthew Boxer chastised the DRPA for practices such as its much-criticized "economic development" spending and its now-halted free E-ZPass benefits for DRPA executives and their families and friends. Boxer also exposed an insurance payback deal allegedly orchestrated by George E. Norcross III, the South Jersey insurance executive and Democratic Party power broker who is chairman of the board of Cooper University Hospital in Camden.

The Delaware River Port Authority has wasted millions of dollars of toll payers' money through mismanagement and political cronyism, the New Jersey state comptroller said in a report issued Thursday. Comptroller Matthew Boxer chastised the DRPA for practices such as its much-criticized "economic development" spending and its now-ended free E-ZPass benefits for DRPA executives and their families and friends. Boxer also exposed an insurance payback deal allegedly orchestrated by George E. Norcross III, the South Jersey insurance executive and Democratic Party power broker who is chairman of the board of Cooper University Hospital in Camden.

The Delaware River Port Authority has wasted millions of dollars of toll payers' money through mismanagement and political cronyism, the New Jersey state comptroller said in a damning report issued Thursday. Comptroller Matthew Boxer chastised the DRPA for practices such as its much-criticized "economic development" spending and its now-halted free E-ZPass benefits for DRPA executives and their families and friends. Boxer also exposed an insurance payback deal allegedly orchestrated by George E. Norcross III, the South Jersey insurance executive and Democratic Party power broker who is chairman of the board of Cooper University Hospital in Camden.

THE STATELY Second Bank of the United States, on Chestnut Street between 4th and 5th, houses a portrait gallery with 185 paintings of 18th-century American leaders. This weekend, on the eve of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Founding Fathers framed inside the 1824 Greek Revival structure were helpless to prevent a savage murder on the sidewalk below. Kevin Kless, 23, a recent Temple University grad, was beaten to death after trying to hail a cab in the bitter cold early Saturday.