Former Maryland Agent Pleads Guilty to Insurance Fraud

Authorities announced that a Hagerstown, Maryland, woman pleaded guilty in the Circuit Court for Washington County to one count of felony insurance fraud having a value of $300 or more.

Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh announced on April 7 that Lisa Lynn Poffenberger received a six-year sentence, with all but two days suspended, and was placed on five years’ probation.

A joint investigation by the Maryland Office of the Attorney General and the Maryland Insurance Administration revealed that from June 2007 through June 2013, Poffenberger, a licensed insurance agent, stole approximately $20,000 in insurance premiums from at least 20 customers of Charles E. Toms Nationwide Insurance Agency in Hagerstown.

A portion of the misappropriated premiums were returned to the agency during Poffenberger’s scheme and the remaining money was returned after she was fired in June 2013, authorities said.

“Consumers purchase insurance policies to protect against losses, not to have their premiums used to perpetrate a scam,” said Attorney General Frosh. “My office and the Maryland Insurance Administration will continue to work hard to crack down on this type of fraud.”

Source: Maryland Office of the Attorney General