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RALEIGH – An Ahoskie woman is out on bond after being arrested for insurance fraud.

North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey announced the arrest of Mary Vaughan Early, 57, of Peach Tree Lane, Ahoskie.

In a press release, Causey said Early stands charged with 23 counts of identity theft, 21 counts of attempting to obtain property by false pretense, two counts of obtaining property by false pretense, and 23 counts of common law forgery.

All of those charges are felonies and the crimes are alleged to have occurred over a five-year period, from 2017 to 2022.

A year-long investigation by special agents led to Early’s arrest. She was released after posting a $161,000 secured bond.

Special agents with the Department of Insurance’s Criminal Investigations Division accuse Early of forging the victims’ names and using their names, birthdates and Social Security numbers on life insurance applications, and using her husband’s, son’s and daughter’s names as the beneficiaries.

Early is also accused of receiving loans against two policies and filing a death benefit claim on another policy.

The victims were all relatives of Early.

According to the arrest warrants, Early obtained $818.66 in life insurance death benefits and $225.36 in life insurance premium loans. She attempted to obtain an additional $165,000 in benefits, according to the warrants.