Northeast insurance agent
is charged with defrauding companies

A Northeast man was arrested last week by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office for allegedly defrauding four insurance premium companies and the state’s bureau of unemployment compensation out of more than $1 million.
Attorney General Tom Corbett announced the arrest of Thomas William Hurd, 50, of the 3800 block of Red Lion Road, at a May 9 news conference at Bensalem’s municipal building.
Hurd was arraigned that day and posted bail.
The suspect was a licensed insurance agent and president of the Thomas Hurd Insurance Agency and Hurd Insurance Associates, both located on Bristol Pike in Bensalem. He is no longer in business.
The businesses sold commercial lines of insurance to transportation lines and acted as a broker for limousine services, buses, ambulances and taxis.
According to the criminal complaint, Hurd submitted false and misleading information to premium finance companies and secured financing for insurance policies that did not exist or for policies that were obtained and prematurely canceled.
The charges state that when Hurd obtained premium financing, he allegedly failed to secure the policy noted in the premium finance agreement and converted the financed monies to his own use.
The complaint also states that, on a number of occasions, Hurd did not forward clients’ payments to the premium finance company, which caused cancellation.
The actions allegedly took place from 2001 to 2003.
The companies that were affected are located in Massachusetts, Iowa, West Virginia and Jersey City, N.J.
In addition, Hurd allegedly placed five of his employees on unemployment to help offset his expenditures.
He allegedly reduced their salaries and had the difference made up for in unemployment compensation.
"These employees continued to work for Mr. Hurd as they received unemployment benefits," Corbett said. "The only individual who profited and received the benefit in this scheme was Hurd, as he received several full-time employees while paying only a fraction of their salary."
Hurd is charged with one count of corrupt organizations, a first-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $100,000 fine.
The suspect is also charged with four counts of theft by failure to make required disposition of funds received, four counts of insurance fraud and one count of theft by deception. Each of those charges is a third-degree felony punishable by up to seven years in prison and a $15,000 fine.
Deputy Attorney General Gregg Shore, of the attorney general’s insurance fraud section, will prosecute Hurd in Bucks County court.
Corbett thanked the Bensalem Police Department and Bucks County District Attorney Diane Gibbons for their assistance with the case. ••