TRENTON
- Attorney General Peter C. Harvey announced
that the Division of Criminal Justice
- Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
has obtained a guilty plea from a former
Hunterdon County insurance broker and
financial planner charged with stealing
more than $300,000 from the retirement
accounts of a 79-year-old Somerset County
resident. Sentencing in Hunterdon County
Superior Court is scheduled for Feb. 3,
2006.
Criminal Justice Director Vaughn L. McKoy
said that Michael Chamberlain, 64, 447
NW 76th Court, Ocala, FL, (formerly of
8 Bridge Hollow Road, Califon, Hunterdon
County), pleaded guilty before Hunterdon
County Superior Court Judge Roger F. Mahon
to a charge of theft by unlawful taking.
Under the terms of the guilty plea, Chamberlain
faces up to five years in State Prison
and must pay $303,756 in restitution to
the 79-year-old victim.
According to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
Greta Gooden-Brown, Chamberlain was charged
via a State Grand Jury indictment returned
on Nov. 5, 2004. The indictment alleged
that between Sept. 11, 1997 and July 5,
2003, Chamberlain systematically looted
the 79 year-old victims’ annuity
accounts and stole personal property,
including a grand piano and personal music
transcripts and compositions. It was charged
that Chamberlain invested the stolen monies
for his own benefit and purchased a resort
home valued at more than $400,000 in Ocola,
Fl.
The 2004 indictment charged that Chamberlain,
a former Hunterdon County-based securities
broker, diverted investment funds from
at least three separate American Skandia
annuity accounts he managed for the 79-year-old
senior citizen. In 2003, the victim was
notified by the Internal Revenue Service
that he owed more than $56,000 in back
taxes from taxable withdrawals from the
annuity accounts. The victim contacted
American Skandia and Chamberlain regarding
the status of the accounts and was advised
by Chamberlain that the monies had been
invested and stolen.
Chamberlain was arrested on July 26, 2004,
at his Florida residence on a New Jersey
warrant charging theft by unlawful taking
and forgery. Chamberlain was initially
lodged in the Marion County, FL, jail
pending extradition to New Jersey. On
July 30, 2004, Chamberlain waived extradition
and was returned to New Jersey by State
Investigators assigned to the Office of
Insurance Fraud Prosecutor. Chamberlain
was released from custody after posting
$100,000 bail.
The Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor’s
investigation determined that the 79 year-old
victim attended Princeton University as
an undergraduate and graduate programs
at Yale University. The victim is a decorated
WWII veteran, who was shot down over the
Philippines. He now plays organ for his
local church and collects money for the
Salvation Army. As a result of the fraud,
the senior victim was left without retirement
funds, nearly penniless, and living in
an independent living facility.
The investigation was coordinated by Deputy
Attorney General Lewis Korngut and State
Investigators Robert Stemmer and Earl
Washington. Prudential Insurance Investigator
Karen Hagen and Prudential’s Special
Investigations Unit uncovered the alleged
fraud and referred the investigation to
the Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor.
The Division of Criminal Justice - Office
of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor maintains
a toll-free hotline to report instances
of insurance fraud at 1-877-55-FRAUD.
Additional information about insurance
fraud is available through the insurance
fraud Web site at www.NJInsurancefraud.org.
A copy of prior press releases, a photograph
of the defendant, and related information
on “Financial Fraud Against the
Elderly,” is available via the Division
of Criminal Justice Web site at: www.njdcj.org.