SEVERN MAN CHARGED WITH INSURANCE FRAUD

Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr., announced today the filing of criminal insurance fraud charges against Hugh O. Whitaker, 34 years old, of Severn, Maryland. The indictment follows a joint investigation conducted by the Insurance Fraud Division of the Maryland Insurance Administration and the Office of the Attorney General. In a nine count criminal indictment filed in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County, Whitaker was charged with: making false and misleading statements in support of an insurance claim he had filed with the Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund, attempted felony theft, making a false statement on an application for insurance, operating a motor vehicle without insurance and related traffic offenses.

The charges allege that between May 20, 2004 and July 22, 2004 Whitaker made oral representations he knew to be false and misleading in support of an insurance claim for an automobile accident that occurred on May 18, 2004. The charges also allege that Whitaker did not have automobile insurance on the date of the accident. Finally, Whitaker is alleged to have made a false statement when he applied to the Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund for automobile insurance on May 20, 2004.

If convicted of felony insurance fraud, Whitaker could be sentenced to serve 15 years in prison and fined $10,000. If convicted of attempted felony theft Whitaker could be sentenced to serve 15 years in prison and fined $1,000.

A criminal indictment or criminal information is merely an accusation of wrongdoing, and every individual is presumed innocent until the charges are proven by the State. No trial date has been set.

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