A U.S. district judge has granted a motion for a temporary restraining order requested by Root Inc. against its former chief marketing officer to prevent him, his companies or associates from selling or transferring any properties or possessions Root has alleged its former executive bought with ill-gotten gains.

Root alleged in an amended lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio that former CMO Brinson Caleb “BC” Silver and others defrauded the InsurTech of at least $9.9 million. The amount was adjusted from an initial tally of $9.4 million in the original lawsuit.

According to documents filed with the court to support its motion for a restraining order, Root said Silver “misused his position as CMO to steal breathtaking sums from Root through a three-step plan” that included payments to William Campbell, CEO of advertising agency Quantasy. Root alleged Quantasy transferred a majority of more than $13 million paid to the firm for marketing services back to Silver via Collateral Damage, a company owned by Silver and/or Silver’s sister Paige McDaniel. That firm then sent funds to others, including Eclipse, another company allegedly owned by Silver, who used the money to allegedly purchase luxury real estate in Venice, Calif., and Miami, Fla.

In her filing to document the granting of the temporary restraining order, Judge Sarah D. Morrison said Silver and Eclipse cannot move the properties; Silver, McDaniel, Eclipse or Collateral Damage cannot sell or dispose of any property worth $5,000 or more; and Silver and McDaniel are limited in their use of credit or debit cards.

Since the original complaint was filed against its CMO from Nov. 8, 2021 to Nov. 9, 2022, Root has dropped one defendant, a former employee of Collateral Damage named Lauren Lanskie. Root had alleged Lanskie was involved in the scheme by sending contracts, invoices and other documents over email to Silver and Campbell. It now appears as though the emails were not from Lanskie though they were sent using her email address, according to attached exhibits.

Root’s request for a restraining order included an affidavit from Lanskie that said she was only employed by Collateral Damage as an executive assistant from the end of November 2019 to Feb. 16, 2020 — before Silver’s time as CMO with Root — and quit when she wasn’t getting paid. Lanskie said she filed a claim with the California Department of Industrial Relations Labor Commissioner’s Office against Silver and Collateral Damage and was awarded nearly $25,500, which she said she has not received.

As for exhibits that look to be emails from Lanskie during the time of the alleged fraud, she said: “To the best of my knowledge, Silver knew my password and he could access my Collateral Damage email account.”

On behalf of Campbell, spokesman Randall Samborn told Insurance Journal in an email, “Quantasy and William Campbell reasonably relied on Silver’s authority as a senior officer of Root, and they were unaware that Silver was engaged in alleged deceit and self-dealing. Quantasy and Mr. Campbell deny any complicity in Silver’s alleged scheme and will vigorously defend and prevail on the meritless claims filed against them.”

Silver did not return a request for comment.

Root said Silver was let go as part of company-wide layoffs. Root said its finance department last year had noticed some “unplanned spending from the marketing department” and started to investigate. The company alleged in the lawsuit that Silver and Campbell “issued a series of change orders in an attempt to cover their tracks.” Root is in possession of alleged WhatsApp text messages between the two men, with Silver urging Campbell, “I just need for you to trust me and hold the line.”

The case is Root Inc. v. Brinson Caleb “BC” Silver, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, No. 2:23-cv-00512.