Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens announced the arrest of an insurance claims adjuster and her accomplice brother this morning for allegedly stealing more than $79,000 from the insurance company where she was once employed.

Arleatha Martin, 42, of Macon, Georgia, and her brother Christopher Lorenzo Battle, 36, of Locust Grove, Georgia, were each charged with seven counts of insurance fraud, seven counts of theft by deception, and three counts of identity theft, the Commissioner said.

An investigation by Hudgens’ Fraud Division revealed that between 2011 and 2012 while working for Allstate Insurance, Martin used her position as a supervisor to produce fraudulent accident claims in Battle’s name and issue him settlement payments totaling $79,538.71. Fraud investigators determined that Martin would direct the payments to Battle’s heating and air business, Mechanical Energy Solution, then the duo would split the proceeds. Allstate discovered the alleged theft following a routine audit in late 2013 and reported it to the Insurance Department.

“Insurance fraud ultimately hurts the Georgia consumer, who ends up paying higher premiums to cover losses from fraud,” Commissioner Hudgens said. “My office will continue to aggressively pursue all types of insurance fraud.”

The investigation also revealed that in one of the fraudulent claim filing, Martin added the identities of three of Battle’s children to an insurance claim involving a school bus accident in Douglas County in April 2011. Battle was given a settlement payment of $6,375.00 as compensation for his children’s injuries, fraud investigators determined that the children were never on the bus or involved in the accident.

Martin and Battle were both processed into the Bibb County Jail. The U.S. Marshal’s Office, the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office and the Henry County Sheriff’s Office assisted with the arrest and transportation of the suspects.

Insurance fraud is a felony with a penalty of two to 10 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $10,000.