Kevin Kolenda, a Connecticut businessman who insurers golf tournament hole-in-one prizes but has a history of not paying, pleaded guilty today in King County Superior Court to two counts of selling insurance without a license and one count of first-degree theft.
Kolenda started Golf Marketing in 1995 and sold hole-in-one insurance coverage to charity golf tournaments across the country including in Washington state. He repeatedly failed to pay winning golfers, leaving charities to come up with the prize money. To skirt prosecution, he also changed the name of his business several times.
Other states where Kolenda sold bogus insurance including: Montana, Ohio, Georgia, California, New York, Hawaii, Alabama, Massachusetts, Florida, Connecticut and North Carolina.
Kolenda paid $10,000 in restitution today. He will pay another $5,000 in four months, when he returns to Seattle for sentencing.