CAMBRIDGE COUPLE JAILED IN LIFE INSURANCE SCAM

Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. announced today that George Meekins, 55, and Barbara Meekins, 60, of the 300 block of Bayly Ave in Cambridge, Maryland, were both sentenced to periods of incarceration following their convictions in July in the Circuit Court for Dorchester County for their part in a life insurance/pension benefits scam. Both George and Barbara Meekins were convicted of conspiracy to commit felony insurance fraud and conspiracy to commit felony theft. George Meekins was convicted of two additional counts of felony theft. The Honorable Brett W. Wilson sentenced George Meekins to fifteen years’ incarceration with all but six months of that sentence suspended. Barbara Meekins was sentenced to fifteen years’ incarceration with all but ninety days suspended. Both George and Barbara Meekins will be placed on five years of supervised probation following their release. The Court also ordered George Meekins to pay restitution in the amount of $31,268.00. The convictions followed a joint investigation conducted by the Office of the Attorney General, the Insurance Fraud Division of the Maryland Insurance Administration and the Maryland State Police.

At trial, evidence was presented that George and Barbara Meekins conspired with John T. Coleman, Jr., in June of 2003, to submit false documentation to an insurance company after the death of his mother, Shirley Coleman, and steal approximately $81,200.00 in life insurance proceeds to which his father, John T. Coleman, Sr., was entitled. John Coleman, Jr. pleaded guilty to felony insurance fraud in April of this year for his part in the scheme and is presently incarcerated. Additional evidence presented at the trial demonstrated that George Meekins also stole approximately $31,000 in pension death benefit proceeds from the Maryland State Retirement System in January of 2004 to which both John Coleman, Sr. and John Coleman, Jr. were entitled.