Two Destin men who state regulators say sold insurance that was never licensed in Florida now face federal criminal charges. Christopher Jason Brossett, 45, and Brady Allen Howard, 59, both of Destin in Okaloosa County, have been indicted in federal court on seven counts that include conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida announced. Brossett faces two additional counts of money laundering.
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Florida
An indictment is an allegation, not proof of guilt. The U.S. Attorney's Office stressed that both men are presumed innocent and that the government must prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt at trial. Insurance Journal reported that both men pleaded not guilty at their October 16 arraignment.
Source: Insurance Journal
What prosecutors allege the scheme did
According to Insurance Journal's account of the indictment, the charges stem from The Wave Insurance — also styled The Wave Risk Retention Group, incorporated in Florida in 2025 — and Hydrogen Deep, a company formed in 2019. Neither company was licensed to operate as a property-casualty insurer in Florida, and neither maintained the $5 million in reserves or $4 million in operating funds Florida regulations require, the indictment says.
The indictment alleges the men solicited and accepted more than $651,000 in premium payments from people and businesses over a two-year period, provided falsified certificates of insurance, and kept the funds for personal use, Insurance Journal reported. State regulators, in their separate September action, put the premium figure at more than $100,000 collected and diverted — a lower figure from the earlier state investigation, reported at the time by Insurance Journal and InsuranceNewsNet. Readers should treat the two numbers as coming from two different proceedings: the state regulator's order and the later federal indictment.
The businesses that bought the policies
State investigators said the operation targeted watersports and marine-livery businesses around Destin, in Florida's Panhandle — the charter boats, jet-ski rentals and tour operators whose season depends on carrying valid insurance. Regulators said the men provided insurance quotes, issued binders and certificates of insurance, and then failed to pay claims, according to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation's order, reported by InsuranceNewsNet in September.
That is the practical harm at the centre of the case, as regulators describe it: a business that paid for coverage and later filed a claim could discover the policy behind its certificate was never backed by a licensed insurer at all. The federal indictment does not, in the material released so far, name individual victim businesses.
How the case built up: arrests, then a shutdown order, then federal charges
The two men were first arrested on state charges this summer in Okaloosa County — Brossett in June and Howard in July — after an investigation by the Florida Department of Financial Services and the Internal Revenue Service, Insurance Journal and the Office of Insurance Regulation reported. In September, Florida Insurance Commissioner Mike Yaworsky issued a cease-and-desist order against the men and their companies, saying the companies had never been licensed to operate in the state.
Howard is a licensed insurance producer, appointed with one life insurance company but not with a property-casualty company, Florida Department of Financial Services records cited by Insurance Journal show. On risk retention groups, the regulator noted such groups must be chartered in a domiciliary state to sell across state lines, and no records could be found for these companies in other states either.
Who announced the federal case, and who investigated it
United States Attorney John P. Heekin for the Northern District of Florida announced the federal charges. The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation and the Florida Department of Financial Services' Bureau of Insurance Fraud, and it is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey M. Tharp, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Florida
Commercial insurance fraud hits small operators hardest: a single unpaid claim after a rental accident can close a seasonal business. For any small business — including the many family-run trucking, rental and tour businesses in the Punjabi diaspora — the lesson in the regulators' findings is to verify that an insurer is authorised in the state before paying a premium, and to check a certificate directly with the state regulator.
What happens next
Brossett and Howard appeared for arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge Hope T. Cannon. A jury trial is scheduled for December 14, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. before District Judge M. Casey Rodgers at the federal courthouse in Pensacola, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. If convicted, each man faces up to 20 years in prison on the conspiracy and wire fraud counts, and Brossett faces up to 10 additional years on the money laundering counts. The separate state proceedings and the regulator's cease-and-desist order remain distinct from the federal criminal case.