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TRENTON
- Attorney General Stuart Rabner and Division
of Criminal Justice Director Gregory A.
Paw announced that a former sergeant with
the Hamilton Township Police Department
was convicted today of bribery and other
charges for his role in offering bribes
to the chiefs of several volunteer fire
departments, following an 11-day jury trial
in Mercer County.
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, Jeffrey Nemes, 41, of Hamilton Township,
was convicted of one count each of second-
and third-degree bribery in official and
political matters, as well as third-degree
conspiracy. The charges were contained in
a Dec. 18, 2003 state grand jury indictment.
The
Mercer County jury, sitting before Superior
Court Charles A. Delehey, found that, on
at least two occasions, Nemes approached
the chiefs of two separate Hamilton Township
volunteer fire companies and offered up
to $500 cash and other rewards if the chiefs
would delay response to fire scenes, hold
back suppression of fires, and/or cause
additional damage at fire scenes by knocking
out windows, walls and roof structures.
The impact of such actions would be to increase
fire and property damage and, as a result,
increase the value of insurance claims.
In
convicting Nemes, the jury determined that
on April 22, 1998, Nemes offered cash to
a Hamilton Township volunteer fire chief
as part of a scheme to delay firefighting
response and to increase damage at fire
locations involving the fire company. The
jury also concluded that on June 24, 1998,
Nemes and Marc Rossi, the former owner of
Rossi Adjustment Services, conspired to
bribe a second fire company chief to engage
in similar conduct designed to enhance financial
profit for both Nemes and Rossi. The Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor’s investigation did
not uncover any evidence that the fire chiefs
or the volunteer fire companies delayed
any response to fire scenes or in any way
jeopardized the life or property of area
residents as a result of the alleged bribery
scheme.
Prosecutor
Brown noted that on Nov. 10, 2003, Rossi
pleaded guilty to bribery and operating
an “arson-for-profit” insurance
fraud scheme responsible for at least six
arson fires which netted more than $500,000
in insurance settlement claims. Rossi admitted
to intentionally causing the fires so his
public insurance adjustment business would
be hired to adjust the insurance claims.
The arson fires occurred in and around the
Trenton area between Jan. 22, 1999 and Aug.
10, 1999. On March 19, 2004, Rossi was sentenced
to eight years in state prison and ordered
to pay $542,853 in restitution. He was also
ordered to pay a $50,000 civil insurance
fraud fine.
State
Investigator Robert Stemmer and Civil Investigator
Joseph Salvatore coordinated the investigation.
Supervising Deputy Attorney General Lewis
J. Korngut represented the Division of Criminal
Justice at the trial.
“Insurance
fraud takes many forms and in this case
it took the form of official bribery,”
said Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown. “It is very disturbing that
a sworn police officer would seek to cause
unnecessary damage to property that was
already at risk due to a fire. If he had
succeeded in delaying the fire response,
it also could have put lives in danger.”
Nemes
is scheduled to appear before Judge Delehey
on June 22 to be sentenced.
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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