Insurance Salesman Sentenced for Stealing Man’s Inheritance in New Jersey

An insurance salesman convicted of stealing a client’s inheritance is now headed to prison.

Federal prosecutors say Patrick McCullagh received a three-year sentence Wednesday. The 70-year-old Georgetown, Kentucky, man must also pay $98,067 in restitution.

Prosecutors say McCullagh defrauded the victim out of more than $100,000 overall. He was convicted of wire fraud.

Prosecutors say McCullagh launched the scheme in 2001 while operating an insurance company in Bordentown, N.J. The victim entrusted him with money he had inherited from his mother, and McCullagh falsely told him he would use it to invest in a manner that would preserve the principle while paying the man back in interest.

But McCullagh pocketed some of the funds directly and forged withdrawal requests so he could loot money from the victim’s investment accounts.