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For Immediate Release:  
For Further Information:
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December 18, 2006  
Division of Criminal Justice
609-292-4791

Office of The Attorney General
- Stuart Rabner, Attorney General
Division on Criminal Justice
- Gregory A. Paw, Director

Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
- Greta Gooden Brown, Insurance Fraud Prosecutor

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Police Officer Pleads Guilty in Insurance Fraud Conspiracy
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TRENTON - Attorney General Stuart Rabner and Division of Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw announced that a police officer from Union County has pleaded guilty to filing false police reports as part of an insurance fraud scheme involving an auto body shop in Roselle.

According to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden Brown, Samad Abdel, 42, of Roselle, pleaded guilty before Superior Court Judge James C. Heimlich in Union County to two counts of third-degree official misconduct, charges contained in Dec. 6 state grand jury indictment. Third-degree crimes carry sentences of up to five years in state prison and a fine of up to $15,000. Abdel may also face civil insurance fraud fines.

At the guilty plea hearing, Abdel, a Plainfield police detective, admitted that he used his role as an officer to write two false police reports regarding automobile accidents that he knew were staged or fictitious so that the fraudulent insurance claims could be submitted.

“We have no tolerance for police officers who break the laws they are sworn to uphold,’’ Attorney General Rabner said.

The indictment to which Abdel pleaded guilty charged that seven co-defendants reported a total of seven staged or fictitious car accidents between March 2001 and March 2003 and filed more than $117,800 in fraudulent automobile insurance property damage claims based on those phony accidents. The defendants allegedly provided false information for police accident reports to Abdel and John A. Smith, a police officer with the Borough of Roselle, which were used to substantiate the auto accident insurance claims. The charges against Smith and the other co-defendants are pending.

Claims were filed with Progressive Insurance Company, Great American Insurance Company, Clarendon National Insurance Company, State Farm Insurance Company and Liberty Mutual Insurance Company. Approximately $94,200 was paid by the insurance companies.

State Investigators Thomas Harrington and Lisa Egan, Civil Investigators Raymond Britton, Arthur Williams and Joseph Burro, Administrative Analyst Christine Runkle and Deputy Attorney General Joseph J. Egan Jr. handled the case. Prosecutor Brown noted that people who have information about a fraud can report it anonymously by calling the toll-free hotline 1-877-55-FRAUD or visiting the Web at www.njinsurancefraud.org. A copy of the indictment is linked to this press release at www.njpublicsafety.com.

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