TRENTON
- Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal
Justice Director Gregory A. Paw, announced
that an Atlantic County man has pleaded
guilty to stealing more than $5,200 in disability
insurance monies.
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, Da Wei Chen, 49, of Atlantic City,
pleaded guilty on Oct. 31 before Superior
Court Judge Bernard E. DeLury in Atlantic
County to a criminal accusation which charged
him with third-degree theft by deception.
At the guilty plea hearing, Chen admitted
that on June 15, 2006, he fraudulently advised
Bally’s Hotel and Casino, where he
was working as a chef, that he was unable
to continue working, claiming osteoarthritis
and related ailments. Chen subsequently
applied to the New Jersey Department of
Labor for disability medical leave. Chen
further admitted that, after he left Bally’s,
he applied for a mercantile license from
the municipality of Ocean City.
Chen
admitted that he then opened a Chinese massage
business known as Sea Wave Massage in the
Surf Mall in Ocean City, which he operated
seven days a week, 12 hours a day, during
the beach season. At Sea Wave Massage, Chen
provide massages to customers in exchange
for payment. He admitted that he wrongfully
collected approximately $5,290 in disability
payments from the New Jersey Department
of Labor after he left employment at Bally’s
and began operating Sea Wave Massage.
State
Investigator Weldon Powell and Deputy Attorney
General Joan M. Burke were assigned to the
investigation. Burke represented the Office
of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor at the guilty
plea hearing.
Chen
is scheduled to appear before Judge Garofolo
on Jan. 28 to be sentenced. Crimes of the
third degree carry sentences of up to 5
years in state prison and a criminal fine
of up to $15,000.
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.
#
# # |
