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TRENTON
- Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal
Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni
announced that an Essex County man has pleaded
guilty for his role in an auto theft ring
that targeted luxury cars.
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, Saladine Grant, 34, of Newark, pleaded
guilty yesterday before Superior Court Judge
Joseph P. Donohue in Union County to being
the leader of an auto theft trafficking
network, two counts of receiving stolen
property, and one count of theft by unlawful
taking, all in the second degree. The charges
were contained in a Union County grand jury
indictment returned on Aug. 13, 2008.
Judge
Donohue scheduled Grant’s sentencing
for March 6. Under the plea agreement, the
State will recommend a sentence of nine
years in state prison.
In
pleading guilty, Grant admitted that he
organized a ring to steal and sell automobiles
from various locations in northern New Jersey.
Grant admitted that he knowingly possessed
seven stolen high-end vehicles: a 2007 BMW
Alpina, a 2007 Audi S 4, a 2007 Audi RS4
and four 2007 Audi Q4's. He further admitted
to stealing another eight vehicles: three
Audi Q7s, three 2007 Audi S8's, a 2007 Audi
S6 and a 2007 Audi S4. Values of the vehicles
ranged from $50,000 to $124,000 each.
As
a result of the ongoing investigation into
the ring, approximately 25 vehicles that
were reported stolen and are worth more
than $1.5 million in total have been recovered
by the Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor.
The majority of the recovered vehicles were
allegedly stolen from New Jersey Port Authority
new car holding lots and other new car holding
lots, as well as from a long-term parking
lot situated next to Newark Liberty International
Airport.
Detectives Jarek Pyrzanowski, Amy Carson
and Jeffrey Lorman, and Deputy Attorney
General John J. Higgins were assigned to
the investigation into this case. Higgins
represented the Office of Insurance Fraud
Prosecutor at the guilty plea hearing.
Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor Brown thanked the Perth
Amboy Police Department; the Port Authority
of New York and New Jersey; the New Jersey
State Police; the Edison Township Police
Department; and the Piscataway Police Department
for their assistance in the investigation.
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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