|
TRENTON
- Attorney General Stuart Rabner and Criminal
Justice Director Gregory A. Paw announced
that a Camden County businessman and his
girlfriend have been sentenced after pleading
guilty to filing thousands of dollars in
fraudulent insurance claims for chiropractic
services and supplies provided to accident
victims, many of whom were recruited with
“runners.”
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, Orlando Rolon, 50, of Runnemede,
was sentenced today by Superior Court Judge
Samuel Natal in Camden County to
four years in state prison and ordered to
pay more than $27,800 in restitution. The
sentence was pursuant Rolon’s guilty
plea to criminal use of runners. On Feb.
23, Rolon’s accomplice, Erika Ramos,
32, of Pennsauken, was sentenced to three
years probation and ordered to pay more
than $6,000 in fines and restitution after
she pleaded guilty to uttering a forged
document. The counts to which Rolon and
Ramos pleaded guilty were contained in a
Dec. 5, 2005 state grand jury indictment.
At his Oct. 30, 2006 guilty plea hearing
before Judge Natal, Rolon admitted that
between Jan. 11, 2000 and Nov. 3, 2001,
he used “runners” to solicit
accident victims as patients for his Brotherhood
Rehabilitation clinic on Westfield Avenue
in Camden, which provided chiropractic treatments,
physical therapy and other medical services
to patients injured in automobile accidents.
Rolon owned and operated several companies
that provided medical treatments, supplies
and transportation services, including Brotherhood
Rehabilitation Associates P.C. of Camden,
JOL&M Medical Supply Company of Berlin,
and OR Medical Transport of Camden. Investigators
linked Rolon and his companies to approximately
$135,000 in fraudulent claims.
Rolon,
who had no medical or chiropractic license,
created the false appearance that the Brotherhood
clinic was owned and operated by a licensed
chiropractor. At her plea hearing on Nov.
1, also before Judge Natal, Ramos admitted
she assisted Rolon by submitting insurance
claims bearing the name of Michael Marek,
a deceased chiropractor. This was done to
induce insurance carriers to pay claims
under the belief that Dr. Marek owned the
clinic and supervised medical procedures
provided to patients. Ramos, a clinic employee,
allegedly was listed as the owner/operator
of JOL&M Medical Supply so that it would
appear to insurance companies that JOL&M
was independent from Brotherhood.
Rolon
admitted that runners attracted patients
to the Brotherhood clinic by offering payments
of $200 to $300. Patients were directed
to purchase medical supplies from JOL&M,
such as TENS Units for treatment of soft
tissue injuries, and to receive transportation
to and from the clinic from OR Medical Transport.
State
Investigator Weldon Powell, Civil Investigator
Shawn Stewart and Supervising Deputy Attorney
General Norma R. Evans handled the case.
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.
#
# #
|
