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TRENTON
Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal
Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni
announced that a Passaic County woman has
been sentenced for using another person’s
health insurance card without the person’s
knowledge to fraudulently obtain benefits.
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, Jacqueline Goodwin, 45, of Paterson,
was sentenced on Aug. 1 to serve 180 days
in the county jail as a condition to three
years of probation by Superior Court Judge
Philip H. Mizzone Jr. in Passaic County.
She pleaded guilty to a charge of theft
by deception contained in an October 2007
indictment.
In
pleading guilty on May 13, Goodwin admitted
that between November 2004 and June 2005,
she used the insurance beneficiary card
of her neighbor to obtain health insurance
coverage to which she was not entitled for
surgery and treatment at the Foot and Ankle
Institute of North Jersey. An investigation
by the Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
revealed that the neighbor was a Paterson
Board of Education employee. As a result
of the fraud, Horizon paid $6,134 for the
claims, unaware that Goodwin was impersonating
a beneficiary to obtain treatment.
Detective
Christine Barclay and Deputy Attorney General
Cheryl A. Maccaroni were assigned to the
investigation. Maccaroni represented the
Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor at
sentencing.
This
case was referred to OIFP by the Special
Investigative Unit of Horizon Blue Cross/Blue
Shield which initially uncovered the fraud
and assisted OIFP in the investigation.
Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Brown thanked
Horizon for their involvement in this matter.
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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