TRENTON
- Attorney General Zulima V. Farber and
Division of Criminal Justice Director Gregory
A. Paw announced that a Staten Island, N.Y
woman has been sentenced for stealing more
than $37,000 in a car theft and insurance
fraud conspiracy.
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, Monika Fijalkowska, 31, of Staten
Island, N.Y., was ordered by Superior Court
Judge Scott J. Moynihan of Union County
to serve two years probation, perform 75
hours of community service, pay $48,437
in restitution to Allstate Insurance Company,
$6,000 in civil insurance fines, and $4,000
in restitution to the Office of Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor. The sentence was pursuant
to Fijalkowska’s May 31 guilty plea
to a criminal accusation which charged two
counts of third-degree insurance fraud.
At
the guilty plea hearing, Fijalkowska admitted
that she submitted phony insurance claims
for two separate fake automobile thefts.
Fijalkowska admitted that on Dec. 15, 2004,
she falsely reported to the New York City
Police Department that her 2001 BMW X5 was
stolen, and subsequently filed a fraudulent
insurance claim with Allstate Insurance
Company. Fijalkowska alleged that a camera
and a Panasonic Home Surround system worth
more than $1,200 also were stolen. Allstate
paid Fijalkowska more than $11,800 for that
false claim.
Fijalkowska
also admitted that she falsely reported
the theft of a 2003 Audi A4 to the New York
City Police Department. She submitted a
fraudulent claim to the Allstate Insurance
Company, which paid Fijalkowska more than
$25,772. Fijalkowska admitted that in both
cases, she “gave up” her car
to another person in order to file the false
claim.
The
Division of Criminal Justice-Office of Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor has been investigating
phony automobile theft insurance claims
and automobile thefts committed by a gang
of persons of Eastern European descent operating
in Pennsylvania, northern New Jersey and
New York. The cars were either given up
or stolen, then retagged and sold at far
below market value, many on eBay.
State
Investigators Jeffrey Lorman and Jarek Pyrzanowski,
Civil Investigator Gary Miller, and Deputy
Attorney General Jacqueline D. Smith investigated
this case, and Smith represented the state
at the guilty plea hearing.
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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