Insurance adjuster charged with stealing from gas disaster victims

Oct. 4—A Mississippi woman who worked as an insurance adjuster has been charged with stealing more than $28,000 and the identities of four victims of the 2018 Merrimack Valley gas explosions, Attorney General Maura Healey announced Monday.

Lashaunda Studaway, of Jackson, was arraigned Thursday in Salem Superior Court on four counts of identity fraud and two counts of larceny over $1,200.

Victims of the gas disaster include residents and business owners in Andover, Lawrence and North Andover.

Between October 2018 and December 2018, Studaway worked as an insurance adjuster on behalf of Columbia Gas. In that role she was responsible for handling the financial claims from residents impacted by the Sept. 13, 2018, gas explosions in the Merrimack Valley that devastated the region, resulting in millions of dollars in property damage and leaving thousands of residents and businesses without heat and hot water in the cold winter months, according to Healey's office.

Healey's office alleges that Studaway stole $28,971 and the identities of four claimants impacted by the explosion by dispersing pre-paid debit cards — that were supposed to go to claimants — to herself.

Studaway would either submit false claims under a real claimant's file or create a file using a fictitious person's name, according to information provided by Healey.

Columbia Gas, the natural gas provider at the time of the disaster, reached a $56 million agreement with the state for its role in the gas explosions and fires.

About 50,000 people were forced to evacuate and the severity of the damage depended on the age of appliances. Five homes were destroyed and 131 properties damaged, according to findings by the National Transportation Safety Board.

Studaway is due back in court on December 16 for a pre-trial hearing.

Follow staff reporter Jill Harmacinski on Twitter @EagleTribJill.