The Defendants who were arraigned on September 6, 2012, plead guilty and were sentenced on Apirl 26, 2013 in Norfolk Superior Court
Jeffrey Bannon, 37 of Clinton, MI formerly of Swansea, MA and Steven Cournoyer, 37, of North Providence, have been sentenced by Judge Elizabeth Fahey to two years probation in addition to being ordered to pay full restitution in the amount of $23,500 to the Magna Carta Companies, also known as Public Service Mutual Insurance Company. The two defendants were indicted in July of 2012 for a scheme they had devised in order to defraud Bannon’s former employer, Magna Carta, of more than $23,000. Bannon, a former regional claims manager for Public Service Mutual Insurance Company, along with his co-conspirator Cournoyer, defrauded the insurer by reopening and authorizing payment on an insurance claim submitted by Cournoyer relating to a purported slip and fall accident that he suffered in March 2007 at a Wellesley restaurant. That restaurant was insured through Public Service Mutual.
“These defendants conspired to obtain payment for a closed insurance claim,” AG Coakley said. “This kind of insurance fraud drives higher premiums and unnecessarily burdens law abiding consumers.”
“This case is the result of another successful cooperative investigation between the Insurance Fraud Bureau of Massachusetts and the Attorney General’s office,” said Daniel Johnston, Executive Director of the Insurance Fraud Bureau. “Insurance fraud inflates rates for everyone in the system, and rooting out these fraud schemes protects the honest consumer.”
On June 27, 2012, a Norfolk Grand Jury returned indictments against Bannon and Cournoyer. On September 6, 2012, the two defendants were arraigned in Norfolk Superior Court where they both pleaded not guilty and were released on personal recognizance. On April 26, 2013, Bannon pleaded guilty to charges of Making a Fraudulent Insurance Claim, Larceny over $250, and Conspiracy to Commit Larceny over $250. Cournoyer pleaded guilty to Larceny over $250 and Conspiracy to Commit Larceny. Both were sentenced on the same date they plead guilty.
