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TRENTON
- Attorney General Anne Milgram announced
that a Union County woman was sentenced
today for stealing more than $9,400 in disability
insurance benefits by fraudulently claiming
she was unable to work.
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, Denise M. Muhammad, 45, of Linden,
was ordered by Superior Court Judge Thomas
P. Kelly in Mercer County to serve four
years probation conditioned on 180 hours
of community service and to pay $9,462 in
restitution to the State of New Jersey.
Muhammad was sentenced pursuant to her guilty
plea to two counts of insurance fraud and
one count of theft by deception. The charges
were contained in a Sept. 13, 2007 Mercer
County grand jury indictment.
At
her June 10 guilty plea hearing, Muhammad,
a former state employee who worked as a
human services assistant at the Woodbridge
Developmental Center, admitted that between
July 2002 and July 2004, she stole $9,462
in disability insurance benefits by submitting
fraudulent disability insurance claims and
making false statements concerning her health
and ability to work. Muhammad resigned from
the job in July 2005 after being confronted
over the alleged fraud.
Detective
Abraham A. Aquino and Deputy Attorney General
Cheryl A. Maccaroni coordinated the investigation.
Maccaroni 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.
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