TRENTON
- Acting Attorney General Anne Milgram and
Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw
announced that a Burlington County man pleaded
guilty today and was sentenced for submitting
more than $10,000 worth of fraudulent checks
to his insurance carrier.
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, Kenneth L. Wilson, 36, of Willingboro,
pleaded guilty today before Burlington County
Superior Court Judge John A. Almeida to
an accusation charging him with third-degree
insurance fraud. Judge Almeida then sentenced
Wilson to five years in state prison.
At
the hearing today, Wilson admitted that
between June 3 and October 30, 2004, he
knowingly issued four worthless checks totaling
$10,390 to Transamerica Occidental Life
Insurance Company as premium payments for
his term life insurance policy. An investigation
by the Division of Criminal Justice - Office
of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor determined
that the worthless checks were drawn on
Botree Investments LLC; Web-Loan; Ogle,
Liles & Upshaw LLP; and Metabolex, Inc.
Wilson also attempted to obtain a $6,888
loan from the insurance policy but that
loan was denied by Transamerica.
Wilson
is currently incarcerated in the South Woods
State Prison on unrelated charges filed
by the Burlington County Prosecutor’s
Office.
State
Investigator Scott Naismyth and Deputy Attorney
General Michael V. Troso were assigned to
the investigation. Troso represented the
state at today’s 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 an award to be
paid to an eligible person who provides
information that 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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