Western Pa. Insurance Agent Charged Again with Theft Crimes — this Time for Duping Customer out of $75,000 in ‘Investment Opportunity of a Lifetime’

HARRISBURG — Attorney General Dave Sunday announced another wave of charges against a western Pennsylvania insurance agent regarding fraudulent business practices — this time for deceiving an insurance customer into investing more than $75,000 for a business “opportunity.”

The victim emptied a retirement account and provided the money to Chad Skena — but never received a dollar back on the investment.

Skena, 48, of Monroeville, was charged Tuesday in Armstrong County with insurance fraud, theft by deception, deceptive business practices, and securing execution of documents by deception. His bail was set at $50,000 unsecured, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for October 14.

This is the third time the Office of Attorney General’s Insurance Fraud Section has charged Skena, since April 2024. The first two waves of charges involved the theft of approximately $70,000 in client insurance premium payments from a total of 16 victims in Allegheny County between 2020 and 2022.

“This defendant has repeatedly taken advantage of trusting clients to line his own pockets — this time, lying about an investment he knew full well did not even exist,” Attorney General Sunday said. “The publication of the defendant’s prior bad acts prompted this victim to come forward, and our Insurance Fraud Section took it from there.”

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