The Office of the Commissioner of Securities and Insurance has filed criminal charges against Mark Anthony Biegler, alleging four counts of criminal insurance fraud and five counts of theft of insurance premium. All nine counts are felonies. Each felony count carries a potential penalty of a fine not to exceed $50,000 or imprisonment in the state prison for a term not to exceed ten years or both. The trial is currently scheduled to begin in August 2021 in the Lewis and Clark County District Court.
The Commissioner of Securities and Insurance also regulates the conduct of insurance agents. Biegler was licensed in Montana as an insurance agent until the Commissioner issued a default order revoking Biegler’s insurance agent license in September 2020.
Biegler is alleged to have committed insurance fraud and theft of premium against Montana businesses in Fairfield, Whitehall, Helena, Kalispell, and Conner. Biegler is presumed innocent until and unless he is proven guilty in a court of law.
Biegler is alleged to have committed criminal insurance fraud, as defined in Mont. Code Ann. § 33-1-1504, by presenting an altered invoice to a business instructing the business to pay an insurance premium to Biegler instead of the insurance company and then presenting altered documents to the business falsely stating that it had insurance coverage. Biegler is alleged to have undertaken similar conduct of presenting false certificates of insurance coverage to several other businesses.
Biegler is alleged to have committed theft of insurance premium, as defined in Mont. Code Ann. § 33-1-1508, for purposely or knowingly exerting unauthorized control over more than $1,500 paid by each of five businesses to obtain insurance policies that were never obtained.
The investigation of matters related to Biegler is ongoing. Anyone with information regarding Biegler, either as a witness or as a potential victim of fraud or theft, should contact the Commissioner of Securities and Insurance at (406) 444-2040. Additional information about this matter can be found at https://csimt.gov/legal-actions/ under Insurance actions.
PRESS RELEASE PROVIDED BY COMMISSIONER OF SECURITIES AND INSURANCE OFFICE