(a) Any person who is knowingly concerned in, or who, for profit, gain, benefit, favor, or otherwise, makes any false oral statement, misrepresents, substitutes persons or realty or goods, subscribes to or prepares, or helps to prepare, any fraudulent letter, document, application, affidavit, inventory, financial or other statement, or in any method or manner attempts to deceive, for the purpose of obtaining for himself, herself, or others, any of the classes of insurance provided for by this act; and (b) any person knowingly concerned for profit, gain, benefit, favor, or otherwise, in preparing or forwarding any fraudulent application, affidavit, proof of loss, or claim, or attempting to collect or collecting any wholly or partly fraudulent claim or money demand from any insurance company, association, or exchange, lawfully transacting business within this Commonwealth, whether any policy or agreement of insurance was lawfully procured or procured by fraud,--shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be sentenced to undergo imprisonment for not more than one year or less than six months, and, in addition, to pay a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500) or less than one hundred dollars ($100). The provisions of this section shall apply whether or not insurance was actually in force and whether or not the offending person or persons received profit, gain, benefit, or favor from the attempt to defraud or from the consummation of the fraud.