24 Citizens Charged with Committing Insurance Fraud in Maryland in Last Five Months

Maryland Insurance Administration Continues to Enforce Laws and Regulations

​ BALTIMORE – The Maryland Insurance Administration continues to partner with other state and local government agencies, insurance carriers and producers as well as citizens to root out insurance fraud, one of the most costly types of fraud in the country. Nationally, insurance fraud costs billions every year to the insurance industry which in turn is passed along to consumers in the form of higher premiums. “We continue to focus on investigating tips that we receive about insurance fraud,” said Insurance Commissioner Al Redmer, Jr. “For the past five months, we have issued 23 civil orders against 24 citizens that we have found violated Maryland’s insurance laws. We want to encourage citizens to contact us should they suspect fraudulent activity.” Since January, Maryland Insurance Commissioner Al Redmer, Jr. has issued administrative penalties totaling $242,249 against 65 individuals for committing insurance fraud in the State of Maryland. In addition to the administrative penalties, Commissioner Redmer also ordered these individuals to pay over $122,952 in restitution to the insurance carriers and individuals impacted by the fraudulent activity. In the last five months, 24 citizens were charged with committing insurance fraud. The MIA publishes details of the fraud orders on its website; to view civil fraud and criminal fraud information look under Public Documents (http://insurance.maryland.gov/Pages/available-public-information/index.aspx). The following cases have been investigated by the MIA and adjudicated by the local State’s Attorney’s Office between June 17 and October 18, 2016. Sylvia Harris of Baltimore, MD Ms. Harris was charged with two counts of insurance fraud, one count of theft, one count of theft scheme, and one count of conspiracy for submitting thirty-eight false disability claims. She pled guilty to the theft charge and the remaining charges were entered nolle prosequi by the State. Ms. Harris was sentenced to 4 years of incarceration (all suspended), and 5 years of supervised probation. She was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $22,700 to the carrier.    Terrence Counts of Baltimore, MD  Mr. Counts was charged with two counts of insurance fraud, one count of theft scheme, and one count of conspiracy for submitting twenty-one false disability claims.  Mr. Counts pled guilty to theft scheme and the remaining charges were entered nolle prosequi by the State. He was sentenced to 5 years of incarceration, all suspended but 18 months, and 5 years of supervised probation. He was ordered pay restitution in the amount of $5,480.00 to the carrier.    Antwan Lester of Baltimore, MD Mr. Lester was charged with one count of insurance fraud for filing a false claim alleging a theft of property from his vehicle and submitting a false receipt as proof of ownership. Mr. Lester was found guilty of insurance fraud and given probation before judgment with 1 year of unsupervised probation. The carrier denied Mr. Lester’s claim and he never received payment. Antwoine Cureton of Reisterstown, MD Mr. Cureton was charged with three counts of felony insurance fraud and one count of theft for presenting a false lien release letter and receiving a payment that he was not entitled to. He pled guilty to one count of insurance fraud and was sentenced to 3 years of incarceration, all suspended, and placed on 18 months of supervised probation. Restitution in the amount of $13,717 was ordered to be paid to the carrier.     Brandon Campbell of Baltimore, MD Mr. Campbell was charged with three counts of felony insurance fraud for having his attorney submit a fraudulent lost wage and salary verification form, on his behalf, in an attempt to obtain lost wages that he was not entitled to. He pled guilty to one count of insurance fraud and was sentenced to time served which amounted to approximately one month. Lashawnda Henry of Baltimore, MD Ms. Henry was charged with felony insurance fraud for making a claim for damages that predated her auto policy. She pled guilty to insurance fraud and was given probation before judgment and 2 years of unsupervised probation. Tynai Hamlet of Baltimore, MD  Ms. Hamlet was charged with one count of insurance fraud (false application) for submitting altered documents in order to obtain an automobile insurance policy. She pled guilty to insurance fraud and was sentenced to 18 months of incarceration, all suspended, and placed on 3 years of supervised probation. Jasmine Berry of Baltimore, MD Ms. Berry was charged with one count of felony insurance fraud and one count of theft for falsely reporting a hit and run accident claim. She pled guilty to the theft charge and was given probation before judgment with 18 months of supervised probation. Restitution in the amount of $750 was ordered to be paid to the carrier.     Kevin Green of Baltimore, MD  Mr. Green was charged with two counts of felony insurance fraud and one count of theft for falsely reporting a hit and run accident claim. He pled guilty to one count of insurance fraud and was given probation before judgment and three years of supervised probation.  Restitution in the amount of $3,113 was ordered to be paid to the carrier.     Anton Payne of Baltimore, MD Mr. Payne was charged with one count of felony insurance fraud, one count of intentional motor vehicle accident, and three counts of conspiracy to commit theft for staging a motor vehicle accident for the purpose of filing an insurance claim. He pled guilty to one count of insurance fraud and was sentenced to 6 months of incarceration, all suspended and placed on 3 years of supervised probation. Jamal Lyle of Middle River, MD Mr. Lyle was charged with felony insurance fraud, making a false statement to a police officer, and attempted theft for making a false auto theft claim. He pled guilty to the insurance fraud charge and was given probation before judgment with 1 year of unsupervised probation. Ronnie Carter of Jarrettsville, MD  Mr. Carter was charged with one count of felony insurance fraud and one count of making a false statement to a police officer for claiming that his 2001 Dodge Ram truck had been stolen. Mr. Carter was found guilty of insurance fraud and was sentenced to 18 months of incarceration, all suspended but 10 days to be served on weekends, 18 months of supervised probation, and 60 days of community service. The carrier denied Mr. Carter’s claim and he never received payment.    Kristy Alger of Hagerstown, MD Mrs. Alger was charged with one count of felony insurance fraud and one count of attempted theft, for falsely claiming to have wrecked her vehicle, when in-fact her husband intentionally struck a pedestrian with whom he had been arguing. Ms. Alger pled guilty to the attempted theft charge and was sentenced to 3 years of incarceration, all suspended but 90 days to be served on home detention, and 2 years of supervised probation. The carrier denied Ms. Alger’s claim and she never received payment. LaShawn Price of Indian Head, MD  Ms. Price was charged with two counts of felony insurance fraud for falsely claiming her vehicle had been stolen after her stepson wrecked the car. Ms. Price entered an alford plea to one count of insurance fraud and was given probation before judgment with 6 months of unsupervised probation and sentenced to 2 days of community service. The carrier denied Ms. Price’s claim and she never received payment. Anthony Smith of Salisbury, MD  Mr. Smith was charged with insurance fraud, theft, and two counts of conspiracy for falsely reporting the facts of a vehicle accident. Mr. Smith was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and was sentenced to 2 years of incarceration, all suspended but 90 days and 24 months of supervised probation.  He was ordered to pay $1,195 restitution to the carrier. Billy Jackson of Fruitland, MD  Mr. Jackson was charged with insurance fraud, theft, and two counts of conspiracy for falsely reporting the facts of a vehicle accident. Mr. Jackson was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and was sentenced to 2 years of incarceration, all suspended but 60 days and 24 months of supervised probation.  He was ordered to pay $1,195 restitution to the carrier.      Final orders from the MIA for civil fraud for July - October were as follows: Nancy Ward - Chillicothe, Ohio Order# MIA-2016-05-031 sanctioned $3,000 administrative penalty subsequent to a Consent Order issued on August 18, 2016, related to a Worker’s Compensation claim.    Annette Mitchel – Baltimore, MD  Order # MIA-2016-06-004 sanctioned $1,500 administrative penalty for insurance fraud related to an automobile injury claim. Laura L. Ross  - Baltimore, MD & John Z. Daniels - Baltimore, MD Order # MIA-2016-06-014 - Each sanctioned $3,000 related to a Commercial Property insurance claim.    Tiana Robinson - Clinton, MD Order # MIA-2016-06-038 sanctioned $1,500 administrative penalty and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $6,219 related to an automobile insurance claim.     Sadie Dickerson – Mechanicsville, MD Order # MIA-2016-02-061 sanctioned $19,999 administrative penalty subsequent to a Consent Order issued on April 14, 2016 and restitution in the amount of $9,999 related to a healthcare claim. Jonathan E. Quinonez – Silver Spring, MD Order # MIA-2016-07-012 sanctioned $2,500 administrative penalty subsequent to a Consent Order issued on July 15, 2016 related to a false Certificate of Insurance. The MIA is the independent State agency charged with enforcing insurance laws and regulations. Its Fraud Division, staffed by former law enforcement officers and prosecutors investigates reports of fraudulent activity related to insurance matters. If you suspect that someone has committed insurance fraud, call the MIA’s Fraud Division hotline at 1-800-846-4069, or email a referral form to fraud-referrals.mia@maryland.gov. To learn more, please visit www.insurance.maryland.gov.  To learn more about insurance fraud across the United States, visit the National Insurance Crime Bureau website: nicb.org. The National Insurance Crime Bureau is the organization dedicated to fighting insurance fraud and crime. The NICB partners with insurance companies, law enforcement agencies and regulators to identify, detect and prosecute insurance criminals. Watch the latest NICB video here. About the Maryland Insurance Administration The Maryland Insurance Administration is an independent State agency charged with regulating Maryland’s $28.5 billion insurance industry. For more information about the Insurance Administration, please visit www.insurance.maryland.gov or follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MDInsuranceAdmin or Twitter at @MD_Insurance.