Bel Air Insurance Agent Sentenced for Felony Fraud

BALTIMORE, MD (May 1, 2009) - Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced today that Cullen D. Hofmann, 42, of Shoreham Ct. in Bel Air, was sentenced on a single count of felony insurance fraud. Baltimore County Circuit Court Judge John Turnbull sentenced Hofmann, a former insurance agent, to six months incarceration, five years probation upon release, and ordered him to pay $356,820 in restitution. If Hofmann violates his probation, he could receive up to seven and a half years in jail and an additional fine of $50,000.

The investigation found that from January 2005 through May 2007, Hofmann submitted false information to Carefirst, thereby reducing the costs of the health insurance premiums of his business clients. Hofmann then collected the correct amounts from these clients, remitted the reduced premiums to Carefirst, and pocketed 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.

Hofmann pled guilty on January 28, 2009. The sentence and conviction follow a joint investigation by the Insurance Fraud Division of the Maryland Insurance Administration and the Office of the Attorney General. In making today’s announcement, Attorney General Gansler thanked Assistant Attorney General Benjamin Harris for his work on the case.