Suburban lawyer pleads guilty in insurance fraud
Michael B. Wolf was arrested three years ago with 10 others.
He fought the charges for more than three years, but suburban lawyer Michael B. Wolf has pleaded guilty to participating in a Philadelphia-based auto insurance fraud scheme.
Wolf, 56, pleaded guilty before Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Jeffrey P. Minehart on Tuesday – one day before the start of his nonjury trial before the judge.
Wolf pleaded guilty to one count of insurance fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit insurance fraud in a deal negotiated by his attorney, Brian J. McMonagle, and Assistant District Attorney Vicki Markovitz. Minehart accepted the plea and sentenced Wolf to the agreed-on two years probation and a $5,000 civil penalty.
Wolf did not speak before Minehart imposed the sentence. McMonagle was not immediately available for comment. Markovitz called Wolf's plea surprising and said the sentence was in the range recommended by state sentencing guidelines.
Wolf, of Phoenixville in Chester County, had a regional practice when he was charged in 2011 with 10 others in a scheme in which insurance claims for damaged vehicles were inflated by workers at University Collision Centers in collusion with a Philadelphia police officer and several insurance appraisers. Prosecutors said Wolf advised Edward Hildebrandt, the owner of University Collision Centers, in the fraud scheme and also filed several bogus personal injury claims with his help.
Prosecutors said the scheme cost auto insurers millions during the four years it operated.
Wolf maintained his innocence long after Hildebrandt and most of the other defendants pleaded guilty.
Markovitz said three of the original defendants are awaiting trial, including Gary Cottrell, 47, a former police officer on the city force for 15 years. Cottrell was allegedly a "wreck chaser" who traveled the city, often in uniform, to direct accident victims to University Collision. Markovitz said Cottrell's trial in the insurance fraud will have to wait until the completion of his federal trial on loan-sharking charges, set to begin Nov. 19.
Also awaiting trial in the state case are insurance appraisers Addaie Amankwaaw, 34, and Cheryl Stanton, 58, both of Philadelphia.
Stanton was also charged in May for participating in a $5-million auto insurance fraud scheme allegedly run by Ron Galati, 63, an alleged mob associate and the owner of a South Philadelphia body shop.