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TRENTON
- Attorney General Stuart Rabner and Criminal
Justice Director Gregory A. Paw announced
that a Middlesex County auto body shop owner
and five co-defendants pleaded guilty yesterday
for their roles in an insurance fraud scheme
involving an auto body shop in Roselle.
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, Marco Rebelo, 33, of Avenel, the
owner and operator of Creative Auto Body
at 409 East 1st Avenue in Roselle, pleaded
guilty to second-degree conspiracy and theft
by deception. In addition:
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Eli Vasquez,
34, currently incarcerated at Bayside
State Prison, pleaded guilty to second
degree conspiracy, three counts of third-degree
theft by deception, and one count of third-degree
attempted theft by deception;
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Danny DaCosta,
26, of Elizabeth, pleaded guilty to two
counts of third-degree theft by deception;
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Rogerio Neves,
37, of Elizabeth, pleaded guilty to third-degree
attempted theft by deception;
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Rui Correia,
27, of Elizabeth, pleaded guilty to third-degree
attempted theft by deception; and
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Charles T. Smith,
36, of Willingboro, pleaded guilty to
third-degree theft by deception.
All
six pleaded guilty before Judge James C.
Heimlich in Superior Court in Union County.
The defendants pleaded guilty to charges
contained in a Dec. 6, 2006 state grand
jury indictment.
At
the guilty plea hearing yesterday, the defendants
admitted to their roles in a conspiracy
to report seven staged or fictitious car
accidents between March 2001 and March 2003
and file more than $117,800 in fraudulent
automobile insurance property damage claims
based on those phony accidents. The defendants
admitted that they provided false information
for police accident reports from the Roselle
and Plainfield Police Departments that were
used to support the accident claims. Claims
were filed with Progressive Insurance Company,
Great American Insurance Company, Clarendon
National Insurance Company, State Farm Insurance
Company and the Liberty Mutual Insurance
Company. Approximately $94,200 was paid
by the insurance companies.
Previously
as part of this OIFP investigation, Samad
Abdel, 42, of Roselle, a former Plainfield
police detective, pleaded guilty on Dec.
18, 2006 to two counts of third-degree official
misconduct. He is scheduled to be sentenced
by Judge Heimlich on May 18.
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. were assigned
to the investigation. Egan represented the
Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor at
the guilty plea hearing.
“Staged
car accidents are a particularly egregious
form of insurance fraud, because of the
potential they present for injury or even
death,” said Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
Brown.“These guilty pleas demonstrate
our resolve to vigorously investigate and
prosecute this type of crime.”
Rebelo
is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Heimlich
on June 1. The other five defendants are
scheduled to be sentenced on April 27. Second-degree
crimes carry a sentence of up to 10 years
in state prison and a criminal fine of up
to $150,000, while third-degree crimes carry
a sentence of up to five years in state
prison and a criminal fine of up to $15,000.
The defendants also may face civil insurance
fraud fines.
Prosecutor Brown noted that some important
cases have started with anonymous tips.
People who are concerned about insurance
cheating and have information about a fraud
can report it anonymously by calling the
toll-free hotline 1-877-55-FRAUD
or visiting the Web site 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 Insurance Fraud Prosecutor was
established by the Automobile Insurance
Cost Reduction Act of 1998. The office is
the centralized state agency that investigates
and prosecutes both civil and criminal insurance
fraud, as well as Medicaid fraud.
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