The proprietor and operator of an Arlington, Massachusetts-based insurance coverage company has been convicted by a federal jury in Boston of fraudulently receiving authorities incapacity advantages.
Patrick Quinn, an ex-Marine who stated he was disabled on account of a number of service-related bodily accidents and post-traumatic stress (PTS) dysfunction, was convicted on April 12 of two counts of theft of public funds and two counts of constructing false statements. The responsible verdict got here after a six-day jury trial.
In accordance with the U.S. Legal professional for Massachusetts, Quinn was arrested and charged in December 2019. In accordance with prosecutors, since January 2012, Quinn has stolen greater than $420,000 in advantages from the Division of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Social Safety Administration (SSA) by falsely claiming that he was unable to work on account of a incapacity, when in actuality, he owned and operated his personal insurance coverage company.
Prosecutors stated proof offered at trial indicated that Quinn was self-employed because the proprietor and operator of Shannon Francis & Quinn Insurance coverage, which later turned Quinn Group Insurance Agency, since no less than March 2003 – opposite to his claims to the VA and SSA. Quinn additionally served because the president, treasurer, secretary and director of Insurance coverage Administration Consultants, Inc. from 2000 via 2007, regardless of telling the VA and SSA that the corporate fired him in 2005.
In his protection, Quinn’s attorneys argued that the VA and SSA rules that prosecutors relied upon are unconstitutionally imprecise, debatable and unsure as to what constitutes “substantial gainful exercise” and that the rules fail to provide discover to a veteran like Quinn of how they could apply to his state of affairs.
Quinn’s attorneys have petitioned for an acquittal and have indicated they are going to be asking for a brand new trial.
Prosecutors advised jurors that whereas claiming incapacity, Quinn operated his insurance coverage agency and frequently acquired funds ranging in quantities of $6,500 to $15,000. They stated he grew his enterprise considerably via acquisitions of 9 smaller insurance coverage businesses at varied occasions between 2012 via 2019.
Prosecutors supplied a timeline of Quinn’s profit claims. In October 1995, shortly after being discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps, Quinn utilized and was authorized for incapacity compensation advantages with the VA primarily based on a sequence of bodily accidents and, later, post-traumatic stress dysfunction.
In March 2005, Quinn utilized for Particular person Unemployability (IU) advantages with the VA, that are paid to people who’re unable to take care of considerably gainful employment because of their service-connected disabilities. Within the utility, Quinn claimed that his PTSD prevented him from securing or following any considerably gainful occupation and that he had develop into too disabled to work.
In help of his utility, Quinn submitted a letter from his purported ultimate employer, Insurance coverage Administration Consultants, Inc., claiming Quinn was let go on account of his erratic habits and was not employed on the agency. Whereas receiving IU advantages, Quinn accomplished and returned 4 VA employment questionnaires, in every of which he attested he had not labored in the course of the earlier yr, in line with prosecutors.
Equally, in November 2005, Quinn utilized and was authorized for incapacity insurance coverage advantages with Social Safety, this time claiming he had develop into unable to work on account of his disabling situation in September 2004.
In June 2006, Quinn utilized for youngster’s insurance coverage advantages, that are paid to the dependent of a disabled particular person receiving incapacity insurance coverage advantages, on behalf of his minor youngster.
Social Safety beneficiaries are obligated to report in the event that they return to work to the SSA. In Might 2018, Quinn reported to the SSA that he had not labored since Might 2006. The SSA continued to pay advantages to Quinn and his son primarily based on this report.
Attorneys Tracy A. Miner and Christina N. Lindberg, of the Boston agency Miner Siddall, represented Quinn.
“This isn’t a typical advantages fraud prosecution,” Quinn’s attorneys wrote in searching for acquittal. “Nobody disputes that Defendant Patrick Quinn is a army veteran affected by numerous important disabilities and for years acquired particular service-connected disabilities that the VA evaluated and rated primarily based on their severity and impression on Defendant’s means to perform. The rules on which this prosecution hinge contain whether or not or not he was engaged in ‘substantial gainful exercise’ and are unconstitutionally imprecise, extremely debatable, and so unsure that individuals of common intelligence are pressured to guess at their that means.”
U.S. District Courtroom Choose Richard G. Stearns has scheduled sentencing for Aug. 17, 2022. The cost of theft of public funds offers for a sentence of as much as 10 years in jail, three years of supervised launch and a wonderful of $250,000 or twice the gross acquire or loss, whichever is bigger. The cost of constructing a false assertion offers for a sentence of as much as 5 years in jail, three years of supervised launch, and a wonderful of $250,000 or twice the gross acquire or loss, whichever is bigger.
Supply: U.S. Legal professional for District of Massachusetts
Subjects
Fraud
Massachusetts
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