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TRENTON
- Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal
Justice Director Gregory A. Paw announced
that a former insurance company employee
from Washington, D.C., and a Florida man
were charged today with stealing $20,000
from the insurance company.
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, Corey Dixon, 38, of Washington D.C.,
and Donovan Thomas, 48, of Saint Augustine,
Fla., were charged in a Monmouth County
grand jury indictment with third-degree
conspiracy and third-degree theft by deception.
The indictment alleges that between Oct.
25, 2001, and Aug. 16, 2002, Dixon, a former
State Farm employee, and Thomas conspired
to steal money from State Farm Insurance
Company. According to the indictment, Dixon,
a former claims specialist at State Farm’s
Farmingdale office, manipulated State Farm’s
claim system and caused four insurance claim
checks, worth approximately $20,000, to
be issued to Thomas, as well as to other
persons who were not identified in the indictment.
It is charged that the checks were issued
as if they had been part of legitimate State
Farm claims, when, in fact, they were not.
The indictment specifically alleges that
Thomas received payment on one falsely issued
check.
State Investigator Carlos Ortiz and Deputy
Attorney General Peter W. Lee coordinated
the investigation. Lee represented the Office
of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor before the
Monmouth County grand jury.
Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Brown thanked
State Farm Insurance Company for its referral
and its assistance in this investigation.
The
indictment is merely an accusation and the
defendants are presumed innocent until proven
guilty. Third-degree crimes carry a maximum
punishment of five years in state prison
and a criminal fine of $15,000. Additionally,
the defendants may face civil insurance
fraud fines.
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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