Bel Air Insurance Agent Convicted of Felony Fraud

BALTIMORE, MD (February 4, 2009) - Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced today that Cullen D. Hofmann, 42 of Bel Air, pleaded guilty to felony insurance fraud in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County. Judge John Turnbull scheduled sentencing, which is to include $296,397 in restitution, for April 29, 2009.

From January 2005 through May 2007, in an effort to reduce the costs of the health insurance premiums of his business clients, Hofmann, an insurance agent, submitted false information to CareFirst. Hofmann then collected an inflated amount from his clients, remitted the reduced premiums to CareFirst and kept the difference. CareFirst discovered the fraud when its investigators observed several insured businesses using the same mailing address as each other and determined that it was Hofmann’s address.

The conviction follows a joint investigation by the Insurance Fraud Division of the Maryland Insurance Administration and the Office of the Attorney General.