Quinn

The former owner and operator of an East Arlington-based insurance agency was sentenced Nov. 8 after he was convicted of fraudulently receiving disability benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Social Security Administration.   

Patrick Quinn, 50, of Arlington, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to one year and one day in prison followed by one year of supervised release, a news release from the office of U.S. Attorney Rachel Rollins says. Quinn was also ordered to pay restitution of $98,940 to the VA. Quinn already paid restitution of $281,439 to SSA.

On April 12, Quinn was convicted by a federal jury of two counts of theft of public funds and two counts of making false statements.

Quinn, until the federal government brought its case against him, was active in local civic life as a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals. 

Actions date to 2012

Since January 2012, Quinn stole more than $380,000 in Veterans Affairs benefits and Social Security benefits by falsely telling the VA and SSA that he was unable to work because of a disability, when, in reality, he owned and operated Quinn Insurance Group Inc. 

The news release provided this timeline and these details: In October 1995, shortly after being discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps, Quinn applied for and was approved for disability compensation benefits with the VA based on a series of physical injuries and, later, post-traumatic stress disorder.

In March 2005, Quinn applied for individual-unemployability benefits with the VA, which is paid to individuals who are unable to maintain substantially gainful employment as a result of their service-connected disabilities. In the application, Quinn claimed that his PTSD prevented him from securing or following any substantially gainful occupation and that he had become too disabled to work.

In support of his application, Quinn submitted a letter from his purported final employer, Insurance Management Consultants Inc., claiming Quinn was let go because of his erratic behavior and was no longer employed at the firm. While receiving IU benefits, Quinn completed and returned four VA employment questionnaires in which he attested he had not worked during the previous year.

Similarly, in November 2005, Quinn applied for and was approved for disability insurance benefits with Social Security, this time claiming he had become unable to work because of his disabling condition in September 2004.

Applied for son's benefits

In June 2006, Quinn applied for child’s insurance benefits, which are paid to the dependent of a disabled individual receiving disability insurance benefits, on behalf of his minor child. Social Security beneficiaries are obligated to report to the SSA if they return to work. In May 2018, Quinn reported to the SSA that he had not worked since May 2006. The SSA continued to pay benefits to Quinn and to his son based on this report.

In actuality, however, Quinn was self-employed as the owner and operator of his own insurance agency, Shannon Francis & Quinn Insurance, which later became Quinn Insurance Group Inc., since at least March 2003 – contrary to his claims to the VA and SSA.

Quinn also served as the president, treasurer, secretary and director of Insurance Management Consultants Inc. from 2000 through 2007, despite telling the VA and SSA that the company had fired him in 2005. While operating his own insurance company, Quinn regularly received government payments ranging from $6,500 to $15,000 and grew his business significantly through acquisitions of nine smaller insurance companies at various times between 2012 through 2019.

Additionally, Quinn was appointed by 65 insurance companies to conduct business on their behalf and renewed his insurance producer license on numerous occasions.

Resigned from ZBA

After Quinn was indicted in 2019, he resigned his seat from the town Zoning Board of Appeals.

Last April, Kayla Pretzer, a representative of Dix & Eaton, a Cleveland-based public-relations company, issued the following statement on behalf of Quinn: "In 2019, management of Quinn Group Insurance and its day-to-day operations were assumed by the team that was and is currently in place. In 2021, the company was sold to PCF Insurance Services." 

Making the Nov. 8 announcment were U.S. Attorney Rollins; Christopher Algieri, special agent in charge of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General, Northeast Field Office; and Joleen D. Simpson, special agent in charge of the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations, Boston Field Division.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys J. Mackenzie Duane and Suzanne Sullivan Jacobus of Rollins’s Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.

Dec. 17, 2019: Indicted E. Arlington insurer resigns from zoning board

This news summary was published Friday, Nov. 11, 2022, based on information from the office of U.S. Attorney Rachel Rollins and YourArlington's files.