Federal grand jury subpoenas Jim Beck's state personnel records

ATLANTA - A FOX 5 I-Team exclusive. A federal grand jury has subpoenaed state personnel records of GOP Insurance Commissioner nominee Jim Beck.

The request comes four months after the FOX 5 I-Team investigated how Beck twice held state jobs while working at the same time in the private sector.

No one from the US Attorney's office would comment on why the subpoena was issued. But the subpoena clearly is concentrating on Beck's employment records when he worked at the Insurance department years ago.

Earlier the FOX 5 I-team examined Beck's work history for the state of Georgia.

Our investigation found in 2012, when Beck took over as General Manager of the state created insurance company Georgia Underwriting Association, he also took a full-time state job as a victim-witness advocate for a district attorney's office in west Georgia.

Russell: How can you work both at the same time?

Beck:  It’s just important to have the availability of insurance

 Beck says he took the job at the DA's office after he left the Insurance Commissioner's office so he could keep his state insurance for his wife's pre-existing medical condition. 

Russell: Were you given the taxpayers a fair shake? if you're doing that job at the same time you have a full-time job in the private industry?

Beck: Well, first of all, you don't know what my job was and you don't know if it was full time or not you assume it's full time you don't know that.

That wasn't the only time Beck held two jobs at once. Earlier, in 2005, we found Beck was lobbying state legislators for a private company, Nationwide Insurance while working full time at a state agency - the Department of Community affairs. That lasted four months.   

 Beck insists he was only a consultant for the state.

Russell: Why do the state records show it’s a full-time job and you were paid a full-time salary?

Beck: I sent them an invoice and they paid me. I sent an invoice every 2 weeks and they wrote me a check.

Russell: You're saying you weren't working full time? I'm saying I'm done talking.

His boss at the time told us Beck was fulltime and earned a full-time salary.

Beck also worked for the State Insurance Commissioner's office on three different occasions between 1995 and 2012. He was a scheduling assistant, fraud investigator, and assistant commissioner.

Now a grand jury has asked the Insurance Department for "All personnel, employment, timesheet, compensation, disciplinary history, and ethics records" relating to Jim Beck.

The grand jury also wants all "Requests for Permission to Perform Outside Employment Forms" filed by Beck.

The subpoena requested the state to send all records to Assistant U.S. Attorney Lynsey Barron. On her LinkedIn page, she is listed as a federal prosecutor, in the economic crimes section.

We asked Mr. Beck for a comment and his campaign spokesperson wrote back to say: “Jim does not know what this is about and is not in a position to comment on it.  He is focused on his campaign for Insurance Commissioner and the important insurance issues that Georgians face, including protecting our veterans and seniors against fraud and opening regional offices where consumers can have face-to-face meetings with Department of Insurance officials.”

 You may recall the I-Team investigation of an arson at one of Beck’s rental properties last year. The Carrollton district attorney is currently reviewing the case to decide whether the GBI should be called in to investigate. Beck told me he welcomed the investigation.