TRENTON
- Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal
Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni announced
that a former Camden City police officer was
sentenced today for insurance fraud for falsely
claiming that vans used by his patient transportation
business were only being driven for personal
use.
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, Darryl Miller, 42, of Sicklerville,
a 22-year veteran of the Camden Police Department,
was ordered by Superior Court Judge Anthony
M. Pugliese in Camden County to serve one
year probation. He was required to forfeit
his job and is permanently barred from public
employment in New Jersey.
Miller
pleaded guilty on Jan. 30 to insurance fraud,
a charge contained in a Nov. 16, 2007 state
grand jury indictment obtained by the Office
of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor. He admitted
that between Dec. 1, 2002 and Dec. 31, 2005,
he defrauded New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance
Company by falsifying application and renewal
forms for auto insurance policies.
In
addition to being a police officer, Miller
was a co-owner and operator of MJ Transportation
Company LLC, a non-emergency medical transportation
business that transported patients from home
to doctors' offices and other places for diagnostic
testing and medical treatments. The Camden
County Board of Social Services utilized MJ
Transportation to transport patients to and
from medical treatments.
Miller
illegally obtained required insurance on the
vans operated by MJ Transportation at a substantially
lower cost by falsely claiming the vans were
not being used in a commercial enterprise.
Vehicle registration forms filed with the
Motor Vehicle Commission falsely indicated
the vans were only used for personal transportation.
Miller made such misrepresentations concerning
at least four transportation vans that were
used commercially by MJ Transportation Company.
As a result of the fraud, Miller saved approximately
$9,000 per vehicle per year.
One
of the vans was involved in a fatal accident
in 2004. Due to the fraud, the victim's family
was denied compensation, because the van was
not properly insured. That matter is currently
in litigation.
Charges
filed against Miller’s co-defendant,
Fred Jefferson, were dismissed. Jefferson
was the co-owner of MJ Transportation.
Detective
George Meyers Jr., Civil Investigator Patricia
Barry, Analyst Terri Drumm and Deputy Attorney
General Susan Kase were assigned to the investigation.
Deputy Attorney General Kase represented the
Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor at the
sentencing.
“It
is particularly disturbing when a police officer
participates in an insurance fraud scheme,”
said Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Brown. “Rather
than upholding the law, as he was sworn to
do, this officer broke the law, putting others
at risk.”
This
case was referred to OIFP by the Special Investigative
Unit of New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance
Company which initially uncovered the fraud
and assisted OIFP in the investigation. Prosecutor
Brown thanked NJM for its assistance.
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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