Sugarloaf woman charged with lying to insurance co. [Standard-Speaker, Hazleton, Pa.]

Oct. 26--A Sugarloaf Township woman who served on the Luzerne County Government Study Commission and headed a government watchdog group was charged with lying to insurance investigators about jewelry she reported stolen.

Charmaine Maynard, who claimed more than $800,000 in jewelry was taken from her home in 2011, was charged with two counts of false swearing. A preliminary arraignment and hearing is scheduled in December before District Judge Daniel O'Donnell.

Wyoming County Det. Joseph E. Sarkis, who is assigned to the Northeastern Pennsylvania Insurance Fraud Task Force, and Sugarloaf Township police Chief Josh Winters filed the charges.

The task force took the case after an investigator for the Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Company alleged insurance fraud against Maynard and turned over relevant documentation.

According to the affidavit:

Maynard reported the theft to the insurance company on Aug. 24, 2011, and said the theft happened Aug. 18, 2011. She reported subsequent thefts on Aug. 22, 23 and 26, all in 2011. In an 11-page proof of loss filed with insurance company, she claimed thefts in the amount of $839,670.60.

Insurance investigators found that Maynard traveled to Florida in early August of that year, to post bail for her son, Anthony J. Klatch II, who was arrested by federal authorities. (Klatch had been charged with stealing more than $2.3 million in hedge fund investments. He later pleaded guilty and is serving a five-year prison sentence.)

Maynard decided to sell some of her jewelry to post Klatch's bail, and asked her estranged husband, Bill Maynard, to have five rings appraised. He did not get them appraised and returned them to Maynard's residence. Maynard then asked her mother, Betty Hersker, who was living with her, to have the rings appraised. The rings were appraised at about $5,000 and Hersker returned them.

On Aug. 16, 2011, Maynard and her mother fought over the circumstance of Klatch's arrest and Hersker moved out the same day. Afterward, Maynard discovered some of her jewelry was missing.

Maynard was interviewed on at least three different occasions and she provided conflicting information during the interviews and an examination under oath.

In two interviews, Maynard told investigators that she was on the phone with Bill Maynard on Aug. 18, 2011, regarding the fight with Hersker, he told her to check the jewelry and she discovered a ruby ring was missing.

In another, she told investigators that she called Bill Maynard the day of the fight, he told her to check safe and all her jewelry was there. Two days later, she discovered the ring was missing, while on the phone with Bill Maynard, who told her to check the safe. She also stated that Joanne Morganti was in her home during the discovery.

Bill Maynard told investigators that he didn't recall any conversation with Maynard about her missing ruby ring, and Morganti also denied being present when Maynard discovered the missing ring.

On the proof of loss statement, Maynard claimed that a wedding band valued at $5,000 was stolen, but when later questioned under oath, said that was the value of two matching bands, one of which she told investigators that Bill Maynard had.

"Even though she was aware that she gave that ring to Bill Maynard, and advised Nationwide representatives of the same, she still included it on her proof of loss statement that she submitted on Feb. 6, 2012," the affidavit said.

Also on the proof of loss statement, Maynard claimed a new four-carat engagement ring in platinum worth $30,000 that she discovered missing on Christmas Day 2011.

When questioned about the loss, she said she was seeing an old boyfriend, Anthony Stish, who went to New York to buy the ring. He traded in two of his mother's stones, two of Maynard's stones and paid another $650 for the ring.

Stish told investigators that he never went to New York to buy a ring, and denied giving Maynard a ring or any stones. Stish admitted to letting people believe that he gave Maynard the ring, and did so at her request.

On Sept. 15 Maynard was asked about the $30,000 ring from Stish, and she said that he didn't give her the ring. She got the ring from New York. Maynard said she stopped wearing her wedding ring when she separated from her husband, but didn't like men approaching her.

A friend told her to wear a big engagement ring to deter the advances, and she traded four of her stones for the four-carat ring. She asked Stish to say it was from him.

"In short, Maynard lied while under oath in order to cover up prior acts of deceit," the affidavit said.

Also on the proof of loss statement, she reported a heavy, solid gold rope chain with matching earrings and bracelet valued at $4,200 stolen. During her evaluation under oath, Maynard was wearing the gold chain she reported stolen. Maynard said she found the set and forgot to remove them from the proof of loss statement.

Later, she told investigators when asked why she reported the necklace she had worn stolen, she said she had two rope necklaces and found one. Also, some of her jewelry wasn't stolen.

Some items she reported stolen during an interview with the insurance company were not reported in her claims interview.

Maynard also told investigators that Morganti helped her obtain values for the jewelry and did a piece by piece inventory of her armoire. Morganti denies both claims.

Maynard also included a "Princess Diana" ring on her proof of loss statement, which she estimated the value at $690,000. She said it was appraised for $37,000 many years ago, and her ex-husband Anthony Klatch knew about it and the appraisal.

Klatch told investigators that he didn't know about the ring or its appraised value.

[email protected]

___

(c)2013 the Standard-Speaker (Hazleton, Pa.)

Visit the Standard-Speaker (Hazleton, Pa.) at standardspeaker.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services