Montco Attorney Sentenced For Stealing $3.4M From Firm: Feds

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — A local lawyer who used complex schemes to steal more than $3.4 million from his clients and insurance companies has been sentenced to prison.

Craig A. Cohen, 55, of Blue Bell, will spend the next five years behind bars, U.S. District Court Judge Eduardo C. Robreno ruled Thursday. Cohen must also serve three years probation upon release.

Cohen, a former attorney with White and Williams in Philadelphia, was involved in the fraudulent activities from 2015 through 2019, when he was ultimately arrested, authorities said.

His crimes were split into two categories: completely fabricated insurance claims, and legitimate insurance claims which he convinced the insurance company not to file, and then kept the financial recovery for himself, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

In creating false claims, Cohen modified existing paperwork from real claims that his firm had already resolved, authorities said. Falsified paperwork made it seem that damage caused by a specific product were caused by one manufacturer's defection, when it was really caused by another.

Sometimes, Cohen would physically damage products himself, get an engineer to describe the issue in the report, and take pictures of it for proof, officials said.

US Attorney William McSwain called the alleged crimes "especially reprehensible for a lawyer."

Cohen had pleaded guilty to mail fraud in Nov. 2019.