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TRENTON
- Attorney General Stuart Rabner and Criminal
Justice Director Gregory A. Paw announced
that an Atlantic County man was sentenced
today for filing a phony accident claim
against the Borough of Buena and Ohio Casualty
Insurance Company.
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, Bruce Basile, 46, of Minotola, was
sentenced by Superior Court Judge Michael
A. Donio in Atlantic County to three years
probation and ordered to pay a total of
$14,500 in restitution to the Borough of
Buena and Ohio Casualty Insurance Company.
Basile
was sentenced pursuant to his March 19 guilty
plea to third-degree theft by deception,
a charge contained in an Atlantic County
grand jury indictment returned on Jan. 24,
2007. At his guilty plea hearing, Basile
admitted that he falsely claimed that he
was thrown from his bicycle and lost four
front teeth when he rode over a loose piece
of concrete sidewalk on Central Avenue in
Buena on July 27, 2001. Basile admitted
he did not lose his teeth in an accident
on that date.
Basile
filed a lawsuit against the Borough of Buena
and the owner of the property where he claimed
the accident occurred. As a result of the
phony claim, Basile was paid $4,500 by the
Borough of Buena and $10,000 by Ohio Casualty
Insurance Company, the homeowner’s
insurer.
State
Investigator Scott Caponi, Civil Investigator
Wilbert Sowney and Deputy Attorney General
Nicole D. Rizzolo were assigned to the investigation.
Rizzolo represented the state at the sentencing.
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.
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