Montgomery County Claims Adjustor Convicted of Theft

BALTIMORE, MD ( February 23, 2010) - Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced today that Chae Hyong Chu, 40, of Gaithersburg, has been sentenced on a single count of felony theft. Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Nelson W. Rupp, Jr. imposed a five year suspended sentence, two years probation, and 50 hours of community service.

From May 2005 through September 2007, Chu, a licensed insurance agent working as a claims adjustor for Progressive Insurance Company, issued six checks from Progressive to himself or his wife and deposited the checks into his personal bank accounts. Over the two year period, Chu stole a total of $39,113 from Progressive. Chu has since made full restitution. He also admitted that he issued and endorsed all six checks and that his wife was unaware that any of the checks had been issued in her name.

The conviction follows a joint investigation by the Insurance Fraud Division of the Maryland Insurance Administration, the Maryland State Police and the Office of the Attorney General. In making today’s announcement, Attorney General Gansler thanked Assistant Attorneys General Roberta Siskind and Ilene Nathan for their work on the case.