Photo: Bigstock

Montgomery County lawyer Craig A. Cohen has been sentenced to five years in prison for scamming product manufacturers and class action settlements out of $3.4 million.

Cohen, 55, was also ordered to pay that amount in restitution. Cohen pleaded guilty to mail fraud in Philadelphia-based federal court in November before U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. His law license was suspended in April.

Cohen's lawyer, Hope Lefeber, said gambling and substance abuse addictions played a role in Cohen's criminal conduct and the judge recognized that with a more lenient sentence.

"He's satisfied with the sentence," Lefeber said. "Judge Robreno gave him a very full and fair hearing, and everyone gained a very important understanding of the role of addiction in criminal behavior and how it influences judgment."

U.S. Attorney William McSwain of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania said Cohen's conduct was especially egregious because he is a lawyer.

"Attorneys take an oath to uphold the law and to act in the best interest of their clients—not to use their position to steal," McSwain said. "Mr. Cohen went to great lengths to deceive and defraud his employer, its clients, and other entities of millions of dollars. This is illegal conduct for an employee in any line of work, but it is especially reprehensible for a lawyer."

Prosecutors alleged Cohen, who formerly practiced at White and Williams and represented insurance companies in litigation over water damage, created a shell company called WLSP out of his home in Blue Bell, which he used to file fabricated claims to collect settlement money for himself over the course of four years. He also used legitimate claims from the insurance companies he represented to illicitly line his own pockets, prosecutors alleged.

According to prosecutors, from 2015 to 2019 Cohen created fake subrogation claims by modifying the paperwork from legitimate claims that he and other attorneys had already successfully resolved on behalf of law firm clients.

"His fake paperwork for each claim made it falsely appear that losses to the insured were caused by one manufacturer's defective product, when in fact, a different manufacturer's product caused those losses," prosecutors said in October. "Where necessary, Cohen would physically damage products and take pictures of them to submit with his fraudulent claim. He also engaged an expert engineer to examine the defective product and issue a report describing the defect that would entitle Cohen's purported client to a recovery against the product manufacturer or settlement fund."

In addition to filing fake claims, prosecutors said "Cohen also used legitimate, unresolved claims from insurance company clients of the firm and submitted those claims through WLSP, generating financial recoveries entirely for himself."

In those cases, Cohen allegedly convinced the firm and its clients that their claims were not viable and they shouldn't be pursued, even though they were, prosecutors claimed.

"In converting these legitimate claims to his own company's name and pursuing them solely for his own benefit, Cohen defrauded the insurance company clients of the law firm that were entitled to a recovery as well as the law firm that was entitled to a contingency fee on those matters," prosecutors had said.

To give the appearance of a legitimate business, prosecutors said Cohen also opened a post office box in Philadelphia and created internet domains and email addresses for his company.

Read More

Ex-White and Williams Lawyer Pleads Guilty to $3.4M Settlement Scam