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TRENTON
- Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal
Justice Director Gregory A. Paw announced
that a Cumberland County social worker was
sentenced today for stealing more than $70,000
from an elderly nursing home patient.
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, Alexander Gotay, 46, of Egg Harbor,
was ordered by Superior Court Judge John
Waters in Cumberland County to serve three
years in state prison and pay $70,000 in
restitution. The sentence is pursuant to
Gotay’s July 27 guilty plea to a criminal
accusation which charged him with theft
by unlawful taking.
In pleading guilty before Judge Waters,
Gotay admitted that between Aug. 2, 2002
and Jan. 6, 2005, he stole approximately
$70,000 from an elderly patient, who has
since died, at the Lincoln Specialty Care
Center in Vineland. Gotay admitted that
he withdrew the victim’s life savings
from her various bank accounts and also
stole the proceeds from the sale of her
former residence. He admitted that he deposited
the money into his personal bank account
for his own use.
State Investigator Anthony Iannice and Deputy
Attorney General William Hoyman were assigned
to the investigation. Hoyman represented
the Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
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.
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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