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TRENTON
- Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Division
of Criminal Justice Director Stephen J.
Taylor announced that a former New Jersey
insurance agent was sentenced today to state
prison for his role in a scheme to steal
hundreds of thousands of dollars in insurance
premium monies.
According
to Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Riza
Dagli, former New Jersey-licensed insurance
agent Thomas Hurd, 53, of Bensalem, Pa.,
was sentenced to three years in state prison
by Superior Court Judge Pedro J. Jimenez,
Jr. in Mercer County. Hurd was also ordered
to pay more than $322,200 in restitution.
The sentence was based on Hurd’s guilty
plea to second-degree conspiracy. Hurd was
charged in a June 9, 2008 state grand jury
indictment.
Hurd
owned, operated and controlled two insurance
agencies, T.I.C. Brokerage and Hurd Insurance
Agency, both of which were operated in Bensalem,
Pa. It is through these two agencies that
the thefts occurred.
In
pleading guilty on Jan. 13, Hurd admitted
that between Oct. 1, 2001, and Oct.10, 2004,
he accepted insurance premium money from
small businesses, including taxi and limousine
companies, in order to supply commercial
insurance, but did not remit the insurance
premium money to the insurance company,
stealing it instead. In some cases, this
left the customers with invalid insurance
or no insurance. An investigation by the
Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
determined that, through the scheme, Hurd
stole more than $322,200.
Detective Matthew Armstrong, Analyst Bethany
Schussler, former Assistant Attorney General
Lewis Korngut and Deputy Attorney General
Paul D. Santangini were assigned to the
investigation. Santangini represented the
Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
at the sentencing.
The
Department of Banking and Insurance routinely
assists the Office of the Insurance Fraud
Prosecutor with the investigation and prosecution
of licensed insurance agents. This assistance
enables the state to coordinate criminal
investigations and prosecutions with any
imposition of licensing sanctions in order
to protect the public.
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