LUTHERVILLE INSURANCE AGENT CONVICTED OF FELONY INSURANCE FRAUD

Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. announced today that Joseph J. Muehleison, 55, an insurance agent and former president of Commercial Lines Corporation which was located at 11804 Berans Road in Lutherville, was convicted of felony insurance fraud in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County. The conviction follows a joint investigation by the Insurance Fraud Division of the Maryland Insurance Administration and the Office of the Attorney General. The Honorable Mickey J. Norman placed Muehleison on two years’ probation, suspending his sentence “generally”. The period of probation will commence with Muehleison’s release from the Department of Corrections where he is presently serving a three year sentence on an unrelated conviction. As a condition of probation, the court ordered Muehleison to continue to pay restitution and abide by the civil settlement previously reached by the parties.

In a statement of facts presented by the prosecutor, the court learned that Muehleison had misappropriated approximately $410,000.00 in insurance premiums which had been tendered for policy renewal by Buck Distributing Company located in Prince George’s County. According to the prosecutor, Muehleison approached a representative of Buck Distributing Company in August of 2005 and represented that an early payment of their 2006 renewal premium would lock in a competitive rate. Payment of the entire quoted premium of $410,000.00 was then made to Muehleison who failed to renew the policy nor forward any of the premium money to the Penn National Insurance Company.