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TRENTON
- Attorney General Zulima V. Farber and
Division of Criminal Justice Director Gregory
A. Paw announced that a Mercer County man
has been indicted on charges of identity
theft and insurance fraud for allegedly
using a false identity to obtain insurance
for his car and submit an insurance claim.
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, Oscar Garcia Guillen, 54, of East
Windsor, was charged with one count each
of second- and third-degree insurance fraud
and third-degree impersonation. Second degree
crimes are punishable by up to 10 years
in state prison and a fine of up to $150,000,
while third-degree crimes are punishable
by up to five years in state prison and
a fine of up to $15,000. Garcia Guillen
also faces civil insurance fraud fines.
The
indictment returned yesterday by a Mercer
County grand jury alleges that Garcia Guillen
stole the identity of a Trenton man, using
the man’s driver’s license and
personal information to obtain a car insurance
policy from First Trenton Indemnity Insurance
Company. It is charged that later, following
an Aug. 5, 2003 automobile accident in Hamilton,
Garcia Guillen presented police with a fraudulent
insurance card in the Trenton man’s
name and submitted a claim in the man’s
name for $3,127 to State Farm Insurance,
the other driver’s insurance company.
Garcia Guillen’s claim was denied
and the matter was referred to the Division
of Criminal Justice - Office of the Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor. An investigation determined
that Garcia Guillen had allegedly stolen
the identity of the Trenton man, who did
not know him.
The indictment is merely an accusation and
the defendant is presumed innocent until
proven guilty. State Investigator Thomas
Tiernan, Civil Investigator Jane Mongiardini,
and Deputy Attorney General Valerie A. Noto
were assigned to the investigation. Noto
presented the case to the Mercer County
grand jury.
Prosecutor
Brown noted that some important cases have
begun with anonymous tips from the public.
People who are concerned about insurance
cheating and have any information about
a fraud can report it anonymously by calling
our toll-free hotline at 1-877-55-FRAUD,
or visit our Web site at www.NJInsurancefraud.org.
State regulations permit that an award be
paid to an eligible person who provides
information if that information leads to
an arrest, prosecution and conviction for
insurance fraud.
The
Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
was established by the Automobile Insurance
Cost Reduction Act of 1998 (AICRA). The
Office is the centralized state agency that
investigates and prosecutes both civil and
criminal insurance fraud, as well as Medicaid
fraud. Criminal convictions for insurance
fraud can result in fines and imprisonment,
while civil penalties can include substantial
fines and referral for revocation or suspension
of professional licenses.
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