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TRENTON - Attorney General
Anne Milgram and Criminal Justice Director
Gregory A. Paw announced that a Hudson County
nurse pleaded guilty today for stealing
$2,270 from her prescription insurance plan.
According to Insurance Fraud
Prosecutor Greta Gooden Brown, Roseann Constantino,
56, of Bayonne, pleaded guilty before Superior
Court Judge Peter J. Vazquez in Hudson County
to a criminal accusation which charged her
with third-degree theft by deception.
At the guilty plea hearing,
Constantino, a former New Jersey-licensed
nurse, admitted that she stole $2,270 worth
of Ambien, a prescribed sleep aid. Constantino
admitted that she forged prescriptions to
obtain the Ambien and, in many cases, caused
the United Health Care/Oxford Prescription
Drug Plan to pay for this prescription medicine,
even though it was not prescribed for her
by her physicians.
State Investigator Abraham
Aquino, Civil Investigator Cynthia Rome
and Deputy Attorney General Steven B. Farman
were assigned to the investigation. Farman
represented the Office of Insurance Fraud
Prosecutor at the guilty plea hearing.
This case was referred to OIFP by the Enforcement
Bureau in the New Jersey Division of Consumer
Affairs, which initially uncovered the fraud
and assisted OIFP in the investigation.
Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Brown also credited
United Health Care/Oxford Prescription Drug
Plan for their assistance in this matter.
Constantino is scheduled
to appear before Judge Vazquez on Oct. 5
to be sentenced. Third-degree crimes carry
a sentence of up to five years in state
prison and a criminal fine of up to $15,000.
Constantino also may face civil insurance
fraud fines. The matter will be referred
to the state Board of Nursing.
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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