Yardley Woman Charged With Insurance Fraud By State Attorney General

A Yardley woman is among 28 people recently charged with insurance fraud by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office.

The charges were part of a March sweep conducted by the Attorney General's Insurance Fraud Section. More than $1.1 million is involved in the unrelated fraud cases, authorities say.

The following Bucks County residents were charged, according to the Attorney General:

• Frank Tuccillo, 58, of the 1100 block of Cherry St., Bristol, is charged with one count each of insurance fraud, theft by deception, criminal use of a communication facility, unlawful use of a computer and providing false information to law enforcement authorities. Tuccillo in 2014 reported to police and his homeowner’s insurance company that his house had been burglarized and a number of items, including a custom diamond ring valued at more than $20,000, had been stolen. Investigators learned that Tuccillo did not own or possess the ring at the time of the alleged burglary. Rather, the ring was in fact seized by local police prior to the burglary. As a result of the false claim that Tuccillo made to his insurance company, he received insurance benefits that he was not entitled to, investigators reported.
• Cynthia R. McDonough, 54, of the 1500 block of Lindenhurst Road, Yardley, is charged with one felony count of insurance fraud, a separate misdemeanor count of insurance fraud and one count each of criminal attempt to commit theft by deception and criminal use of a communication facility. According to investigators, a fire occurred in December 2015 at a building in Philadelphia. The insurance policy for the property, which was owned by the company where McDonough worked as an office manager, did not cover fire damage. As a result, once the fire started, McDonough allegedly contacted an insurance agency and obtained the proper policy to cover the fire damage. Later, she allegedly submitted a false claim to her insurance company in which she made numerous false statements in an attempt to receive $150,000 in coverage.
• Angel Paz Manriquez, 34, of the 2200 block of David Drive, Bristol, is charged with one felony count of insurance fraud, a separate misdemeanor count of insurance fraud and one count each of criminal attempt to commit theft by deception and criminal use of a communication facility. Investigators alleged in a criminal complaint that Manriquez, as he made an insurance claim, reported that he was involved in an automobile collision in June 2016 when he was insured by Progressive Insurance Company. In reality, the collision occurred prior to Manriquez obtaining a new insurance policy.
• Linda Rausch, 47, of the 2900 block of Bunker Hill Road, Bensalem, is charged with one count each of insurance fraud, criminal attempt to commit theft by deception, criminal use of a communication facility and unlawful use of a computer. Investigators reported that Rausch added coverage for an additional car to her existing Progressive Insurance policy. She then submitted a claim for an accident involving that vehicle and falsely claimed the accident occurred after the added coverage was obtained, according to investigators. The accident in fact occurred prior to Rausch adding the car to her policy. She is accused of providing false reports in an effort to obtain insurance benefits to which she was not entitled.
• Mandeep Pankajkum Patel, 31, of the 2500 block of Knights Road, Bensalem, is charged with one count each of insurance fraud, criminal attempt to commit theft by deception and criminal use of a communication facility. Investigators determined that Patel provided false and misleading information in a claim to his automobile insurance company. Patel reportedly claimed damage to his vehicle occurred after he added comprehensive coverage to his existing policy. The investigation confirmed the damage to Patel’s vehicle occurred before he added the comprehensive coverage.

“Our office’s Insurance Fraud Section has a strong track record of investigating and prosecuting these cases,” Shapiro said in a statement. “We will aggressively prosecute anyone who breaks the law by providing false information to an insurance company.”

PHOTOS: Frank Tuccillo and Angel Paz Manriquez, provided by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office