TRENTON
Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal
Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni
announced that an Ocean County woman was
sentenced today for falsely registering
four vehicles with the Motor Vehicle Commission.
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, Ivette M. Encarnacion, 54, of Lakewood,
was ordered by Superior Court Judge Anthony
J. Mellaci in Monmouth County to serve five
years probation. The sentence was pursuant
to Encarnacion’s guilty plea to three
counts of tampering with public records
or information, charges contained in a June
20, 2008 Monmouth County grand jury indictment.
In
pleading guilty on Nov. 3, Encarnacion admitted
that between June 13, 2006 and April 30,
2007, she falsely registered four automobiles
at three different New Jersey Motor Vehicle
Commission agencies: a 1994 Honda sedan,
a 1994 GMC wagon, a 2000 Ford wagon and
a 1995 Volkswagon sedan. Encarnacion admitted
that she falsely claimed that the automobiles
were insured by Allstate Insurance Company.
New Jersey law requires that motor vehicles
have appropriate insurance, and the registration
form used by the Motor Vehicle Commission
requires persons to identify the insurance
company that insures the vehicle. Encarnacion
further admitted that she planned to sell
the vehicles after they were registered.
On
April 30, 2007, the Lakewood Police Department,
assisted by the Motor Vehicle Commission,
arrested Encarnacion. The Motor Vehicle
Commission then referred the case to the
Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor.
Detective
Darrell Washington and Deputy Attorney General
John J. Higgins were assigned to the investigation.
Higgins represented the Office of Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor at the sentencing. Prosecutor
Brown also thanked the Allstate Insurance
Company, the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission,
and the Lakewood Police Department for their
assistance in this investigation.
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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