A former insurance agent from Medford, Massachusetts has pleaded guilty to several charges, including posing as one of her clients.
The ex-agent, 27-year-old Mary Kumar, admitted to four charges of intimidation of a witness, three counts of forgery of a document and one charge of identity fraud.
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According to court records, all eight charges are based on Kumar posing as her victim when she came to Newburyport court in March 2016 to file motions and then stand before the judge. Kumar, a former car insurance agent, collected money from a customer and issued a fraudulent policy in return. Court records show that Kumar went to extreme lengths to conceal her fraudulent actions and even pretended to be her client in court.
On January 08, 2016, Topsfield police pulled over Kumar’s customer-victim, informing her that she was charged with operating a motor vehicle with a revoked registration and having no insurance. The woman argued that she had insurance and a valid registration, but police told her that her policy was revoked months earlier.
It was then that the woman contacted Kumar at Prestige Insurance; Kumar assured her customer that she would make a few phone calls to settle the matter immediately.
Although Kumar managed to arrange a rental car for the woman, she did little else to rectify the issue. The victim contacted Kumar several more times, only to be assured by the agent every time that the matter is being resolved.
The victim finally got a court notice to appear in Ipswich District Court for arraignment on the two motor vehicle charges on February 11. She contacted Kumar about the summons, who then told her that, if necessary, the court date could be extended as far as possible to allow time to resolve the matter.
Kumar then assumed the identity of her client, appearing in court a month later in an attempt to get the matter over with and conceal her fraud. The information and photo she provided the authorities did not match her client’s data with the Department of Motor Vehicles, revealing her scheme.
She is expected to be sentenced to six months in jail when she returns to court Monday, an Essex County prosecutor told
Daily News of Newburyport.
According to the report of state Trooper Michael Provost, Middleton police were aware of Prestige Insurance customers who – despite making regular premium payments – were not actually insured.
Court records did not state how much money the victim paid Kumar for the false insurance policy.
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