Crystal Claggett
Prince Frederick, MD – A Prince George’s County woman was indicted in August by a Calvert County grand jury on a single count of theft scheme between $10,000 to $100,000. The charge Crystal Claggett, 40 of Upper Marlboro is facing is a felony. Police investigators reported that Claggett perpetrated the scheme between February 2011 and May 2016 while working for a Dunkirk physical therapist.
According to court documents, the allegations against Claggett were initially made in November 2016. In an application for statement of charges dated Feb. 2, 2018, the complainant provided bank records for the business “and advised me that he believes fraudulent purchases were made” on several accounts. Buck contacted all six businesses the complainant believes were involved in the scheme. Only one responded and that correspondence was received in October 2017. The company, according to Buck, was Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC), which provided the detective with Claggett’s account number and a list of payments she made. “I compared the list of payments made on Ms. Claggett’s WSSC account to that of the payments indicated in the [physical therapist’s] bank statements and found [with] each and every one, the payments to match.” Buck stated the fraudulent transactions totaled over $5,062.
In August, a total of 23 counts—felony charges of forgery and issuing false documents by Claggett—were nolle prosequi (not pursued) by the state. The indictment moves the case to Calvert County Circuit Court. Claggett, who has been free on $3,000 bond since March, has a pretrial conference tentatively scheduled for Sept. 24 and a plea hearing in late October. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant State’s Attorney Michael Morgan. According to a docket summary, Claggett is represented by attorney M.K. Fowler.
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com