BALTIMORE, MD—A former Baltimore County insurance agent and financial advisor has been charged with obstruction of justice and fabricating physical evidence, marking the fourth set of criminal charges filed against him since September 2024, Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown announced.
The new charges, filed in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County, allege that Michael C. Okolo, 68, of Parkville, fabricated a “letter of instruction” that he then provided to his attorney. This letter, purportedly from a client and dated Feb. 20, 2016, allegedly authorized Okolo to deposit two checks totaling $36,500 into his business account while he sought insurance and annuity products for the client. The letter was disclosed to the state on May 1 to be used as evidence in an upcoming trial.
Prosecutors contend the letter was fabricated, and the client neither wrote, authorized, nor signed it. The signature on the fabricated letter was allegedly cut and pasted by Okolo without authorization from a genuine letter the client sent to Okolo in April 2017, more than a year after the date on the alleged fabricated instruction. Furthermore, in a May 2017 letter to the Maryland Insurance Administration, Okolo had reportedly denied the existence of any written documentation for the client’s alleged instruction to deposit the checks into his accounts.
These new charges stem from a September 2024 indictment by a Baltimore County grand jury, which charged Okolo with felony theft and insurance fraud. In that case, it is alleged that Okolo received two partially completed checks from a client in 2016 for a life insurance policy and an annuity contract but instead made the checks payable to his business, deposited them, and used the funds for personal and business expenses.
Okolo faces two other pending cases (PDF) related to his Pikesville-area business. In one, he is charged with numerous counts of acting as an insurance agent without a license, as he allegedly continued to sell insurance products after the Maryland Insurance Administration revoked his license. In the other case, Okolo is accused of theft of property valued at $100,000 or more, after allegedly cashing a client’s check intended for a “real estate investment” and using the money for his own personal and business expenses unrelated to real estate.
The Fraud and Corruption Unit of the Attorney General’s Criminal Division is prosecuting all four cases against Okolo.
An initial appearance for the new obstruction of justice charge has not yet been scheduled. Okolo’s other cases are slated for trial on Sept. 22, Oct. 20, and Dec. 1 in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County.
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