This news article was originally posted by The Insurance Journal online.
A former northeastern Pennsylvania insurance executive has been sentenced to 5 1/2 to 16 1/2 years in state prison in what prosecutors said was a pyramid scheme worth at least $7 million.
Brian Murray, 68, former head of Murray Insurance Agency Inc., was arrested in July, 2010 by agents from the state attorney general’s insurance fraud section. He pleaded no contest in June to felony counts of criminal conspiracy, theft by deception and theft by failure to make required disposition of funds. Murray was sentenced in Lackawanna County Court.
Prosecutors said he and others took premiums from new clients to conceal the thefts from others and never procured the insurance the customers thought they were paying for. Moses Taylor Hospital, Mount Airy Casino Resort and the University of Scranton were among the alleged victims of Murphy’s fraud.
Some of the fraud was uncovered after Pennsylvania Manufacturers Insurance and Travelers Insurance conducted audits of Murray’s accounts.
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