TRENTON
– Attorney General Anne Milgram and
Criminal Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni
announced that a Newark man was sentenced
today for participating in a staged accident
ring. He had been on trial with his two brothers,
but all three pleaded guilty on April 14 as
the lengthy trial neared its end. His brothers
were sentenced to prison last week.
According to Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
Riz Dagli, Ralph Campbell, 28, of Newark,
was sentenced to five years of probation,
conditioned on him serving 364 days in county
jail, by Superior Court Judge Joseph C. Cassini
III in Essex County. He pleaded guilty to
second-degree conspiracy to commit racketeering.
The state has 10 days to decide whether to
appeal, on the basis that probation is not
a proper sentence for a person convicted of
a second-degree crime.
On
July 27, Judge Cassini ordered Edward Campbell
Jr., aka Tariq Campbell, 39, of Elizabeth,
to serve six years in state prison, and ordered
Bobbie Campbell, 41, of Newark, to serve three
years in state prison.
Edward
Campbell Jr. had pleaded guilty to all charges
against him, including conspiracy to commit
racketeering, conspiracy to commit health
care claims fraud, criminal use of runners,
theft by deception, and tax fraud, as well
as three counts of conspiracy to commit health
care claims fraud, six counts of health care
claims fraud and one count each of racketeering
and theft by deception. The charges were contained
in four indictments obtained by the Office
of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor.
Edward
Campbell Jr. admitted that he acted as a runner
for Irwin B. Seligsohn, who was sentenced
last year to three years in prison, becoming
the first New Jersey lawyer to be imprisoned
under New Jersey’s criminal runners’
statute. The law makes it a crime for attorneys
or health care professionals to pay persons
to procure clients or patients to file insurance
claims and lawsuits.
Racketeering
and conspiracy charges were filed by the Office
of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor against Seligsohn,
his law partner, their firm, and 47 other
individuals in connection with the firm’s
use of runners to recruit individuals, many
of whom feigned auto accident injuries so
phony insurance claims could be submitted.
To date, more than 35 defendants have pleaded
guilty, including Seligsohn and the firm,
Seligsohn, Goldberger & Shinrod in West
Orange.
Edward
Campbell Jr. admitted that he recruited persons
to be in staged accidents and assisted in
setting up fake accidents so that phony insurance
claims could be submitted by Seligsohn and
other attorneys.
Ralph
and Bobbie Campbell both pleaded guilty to
second-degree conspiracy to commit racketeering.
Each admitted he was involved in several fake
accidents and the submission of fraudulent
claims.
“The
illegal use of runners to procure patients
and clients drives up the cost of insurance
in this state,” Acting Prosecutor Dagli
said. “As in this case, runners often
urge people who are not injured to be treated
for injuries and submit false accident claims.
We will vigorously enforce New Jersey’s
statute making it a crime to employ runners.”
Fraud
Prosecutor Dagli thanked Detective Ned Shaw,
Civil Investigators George Delgrosso and Gerard
Pizzillo, Analyst Kathleen Ratliff and Deputy
Attorneys General Andrew Fried and Mary Erin
McAnally for coordinating the investigation
and trial.
Acting
Prosecutor Dagli also thanked Detective Abraham
Aquino, Detective Jaroslaw Pyrzanowski, retired
State Investigator Ed Buttimore, former State
Investigators Keith Johnson, Sophia DeBrito,
Jose Vendas, Ted Merced and Paul Han, and
Newark Police Officers Michael Conners and
Vaughan Williams for assisting in the investigation.
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