An insurance agent in Puyallup has pleaded guilty to theft and forgery for collecting tens of thousands of dollars in payments from clients but not providing insurance.

Nancy M. Bishop, who did business as the Nancy Bishop Agency, pleaded guilty in Pierce County Superior Court Monday to one count of first-degree theft and two counts of forgery. Sentencing is slated for Sept. 5.

In late 2009, the state insurance commissioner’s office received a complaint from the owner of a construction company. The owner said she’d made multiple payments to Bishop, but that the company’s policy had been cancelled for nonpayment. Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler launched an audit of Bishop, which she twice tried to postpone. Kreidler’s investigators found that Bishop owed policyholders more than $131,000.

The investigation found dozens of instances in which Bishop collected premiums but provided no insurance coverage. She continued to bill clients anyway. Investigators found numerous instances in which Bishop received refunds from a finance company, but she apparently failed to give those refunds back to customers.

The investigators also found two dozen instances in which forged certificates of insurance, with Nancy Bishop’s name at the bottom, were sent to state regulators. In those 24 cases, there was no actual insurance.

In April 2011, Kreidler barred Bishop from doing any insurance business in Washington.