Woman waives court hearing on charges of falsifying insurance documents [The Meadville Tribune, Pa.]

Dec. 2—LINESVILLE — A Harmonsburg woman will go on trial in county court next year for allegedly falsifying insurance documents to win a business remodeling contract.

In October, the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General charged Taunya N. Shepard with felony counts of insurance fraud, forgery and identity theft and a misdemeanor count of tampering with records or identification.

By waiving her right to a preliminary hearing Thursday before Magisterial District Judge Adam Stallard of Linesville, Shepard automatically was ordered held for trial. Shepard's trial will be scheduled for the March 2023 criminal trial term of Crawford County Court of Common Pleas.

The Office of Attorney General alleges Shepard, 51, and owner of A-Z Building Concepts of Harmonsburg, falsified insurance documents in order to win a commercial remodeling contract in March of this year.

Shepard is accused of creating a fictitious document — a certificate of liability insurance dated March 28, 2022, according to the criminal complaint filed in the case.

The complaint states Shepard then submitted the fake document to an area campground as proof of insurance for a $36,000 remodeling contract with the campground. The complaint alleges Shepard claimed the document was issued by an authorized insurance agent and/or Mutual Benefit Insurance Group.

The arrest affidavit filed with the charges alleges when the campground owners contacted the insurance agent about liability insurance certificate, the insurance agent said it was not issued by her or the insurance agency.

Shepard admitted the liability insurance certificate she gave the campground owners "was fictitious and a document she generated on her computer," the arrest affidavit said. Shepard's admission came during a Sept. 8 interview with Office of Attorney General investigators, the affidavit said.

The affidavit said Shepard also admitted to investigators she provided the document to the campground owners as proof of liability insurance.

Shepard remains free on her own recognizance pending her trial.

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