Owner of Marietta, Georgia, insurance agency sentenced for diverting 401(k) assets

Marietta – The Superior Court of Cobb County Georgia in Marietta has sentenced the owner of the Hoyla Insurance Group to serve five years in prison, to be followed by 15 years of probation, after his plea of guilty to 19 counts of theft, including theft of $65,000 from the company's 401(k) plan.

On November 2, Michael Hoyla pleaded guilty to a 19-count indictment of theft under Georgia law that was filed by the Cobb County, Georgia, district attorney in April 2008. As part of this plea, Hoyla pleaded guilty to converting to his own personal use of more than $65,000 in employee contributions owed to the company's 401(k) plan between 2002 and 2006.

"Theft of employee benefit assets jeopardizes the benefits of workers. This case reaffirms the Labor Department's commitment to protecting workers' benefits by identifying criminal activity wherever and whenever it occurs," said R.C. Marshall, director of EBSA's Atlanta Regional Office.

In addition to the sentence, Hoyla was ordered to pay a $30 per month probation fee not to exceed 60 payments and a $50 probation surcharge.

The insurance agency ceased operations on September 6, 2006, after the Georgia Department of Insurance issued a cease and desist order. The 401(k) plan covered seven participants and had $131,848 in assets as of April 5, 2007, the latest data available.

The criminal case was prosecuted by the Cobb County Georgia District Attorney's Office. This case was investigated by the Atlanta Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and the Georgia Department of Insurance.

The State of Georgia. v. Michael John Hoyla
Criminal Number 081584-34

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