(WNY News Now) – Attorney General Michelle Henry has brought charges against Chad Skena, a Monroeville-based insurance agent, accusing him of swindling customers out of an estimated $60,000 by promising non-existent money-saving services.
Allegheny, PA – Chad Skena, 47, was charged Tuesday with numerous felony and misdemeanor counts of theft and access device fraud for allegedly perpetrating the scam between 2020 and 2022.
Skena, operator of Chad G. Skena Insurance Agency, took as much as $24,000 from one victim, stealing $60,000 from policyholders in all.
He was arraigned Tuesday and released on non-monetary bail.
“This defendant’s predatory actions allegedly cost consumers thousands of dollars — consumers who thought they were being offered discounts,” Attorney General Henry said. “The investigation showed that the defendant tried to dodge victims who wanted their money back, until the police became involved. Insurance fraud is a serious crime that drives up costs and premiums for all Pennsylvanians.”
The Office of Attorney General’s investigation revealed that, between August 2020 and March 2022, Skena allegedly misappropriated or failed to apply payments from insurance policyholders to their accounts. Instead, Skena is charged with depositing the money into his own personal accounts.
Skena contacted existing customers of his insurance agency and offered to “bundle” their insurance policies or offered “special COVID-19 rates” to save them money. When victims confronted Skena, he said the money was “accidentally” withdrawn from their accounts and did not provide refunds — until police intervened.
The payments that Skena took from each victim ranged from $800 to $24,000.
This case is being prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Daniel F. Gleixner. All charges are accusations. The defendant is innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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