Maryland Man Sentenced to 10 Years for Auto Insurance Fraud, AG Reports

A Gaithersburg man has been sentenced in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County after having pleaded guilty to felony insurance fraud last October, according to Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr.

The conviction of Daryl R. Hardy followed a joint investigation by the Office of the Attorney General, the Insurance Fraud Division of the Maryland Insurance Administration and the Maryland State Police.

Judge D. Warren Donohue sentenced Hardy to 10 years’ incarceration suspending all but three years of that sentence, Curan reported. Upon his release, he will be placed on five years probation and required to pay restitution.

In a statement of facts presented by the prosecutor at the time of the guilty plea, the court was told that Hardy had submitted numerous fraudulent automobile accident insurance claims totaling more than $29,000.00 between October of 2001 and March of 2005. The statement alleges that Hardy reported that his vehicle had been damaged by debris falling from another vehicle, usually a commercial truck when no such incident occurred.

Curran’s officie said he also claimed that broken glass from the windshield had sprayed into his and/or his children’s eyes.

In many instances, according to the statement, he did not even own the vehicle purportedly damaged. To effectuate his scheme, Hardy would submit altered or fabricated repair shop estimates or bills in support of
his claims, according to Curran.

Source: Maryland Attorney General