DES MOINES, Iowa — A Walcott man faces over two dozen criminal charges following an extensive investigation by the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau into an alleged identity theft and unauthorized insurance scheme.
Stanly Blythe, 61, was arrested on June 26, 2026, and booked into the Scott County Jail. He is currently being held on a $75,000 cash-only bond.
According to criminal complaints filed by investigators, the fraudulent activity occurred between February 2024 and January 2025. It is alleged that Blythe opened insurance policies under the names of at least 11 family members who had no knowledge that the policies were being taken out. Furthermore, Blythe allegedly forged his family members’ signatures on the policy documents.
Investigators state that Blythe’s actions would have resulted in at least $36,360.76 in commissionable premiums.
As a result of the investigation, Blythe…
IT & DATA SECURITY (MITIGATING THE “INSIDER THREAT”)
As seen in the TD Bank case, an employee with too much “access” can sell your customer data to syndicates.
- Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP): Employees should only have access to the specific folders and databases required for their current task.
- Access Revocation: Have a “Termination Checklist” that ensures all digital access (Email, VPN, Banking) is revoked within 60 minutes of an employee resigning or being dismissed.
- System Logs & Audit Trails: Enable “Read/Write Logging” on your server. If a customer’s data is leaked, you need to know exactly which login accessed that record and at what time.
- Encryption at Rest: Ensure that sensitive files (like your customer ID numbers or payroll spreadsheets) are encrypted so that if a staff member copies them to a USB, they cannot be read.