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TRENTON - Attorney General
Paula T. Dow and Division of Criminal Justice
Director Stephen J. Taylor announced that
a Mercer County auto body repair shop owner
pleaded guilty today for his role in an
auto repair insurance scam.
According to Acting Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor Riza Dagli, Robert Buckingham,
54, of Millstone, pleaded guilty to second-degree
conspiracy to commit insurance fraud before
Superior Court Judge Edward M. Neafsey in
Mercer County. The charge was contained
in a July 17, 2007 state grand jury indictment.
Judge Neafsey scheduled
sentencing for July 7. The state will recommend
that Buckingham be sentenced to three years
in state prison. Buckingham may also face
civil insurance fraud fines.
In pleading guilty, Buckingham, the owner/operator
of Robert Christopher Collision, an auto
body repair facility which does business
on Kuser Road in Hamilton Township, admitted
that between April 2005 and July 2006, he
conspired with employees of his company
to over-bill insurance companies for the
repair of two automobiles. Buckingham admitted,
for example, that he had the frame of a
damaged 2004 Cadillac Escalade repaired
by welding in a section but billed the insurance
company, and was subsequently paid, for
the full replacement of the frame.
In August 2008, one of Buckingham’s
employees and co-defendants, Paul Failla,
55, of Morganville, pleaded guilty to theft
by deception and was subsequently sentenced
to two years probation conditioned on 180
days in county jail if he fails to satisfactorily
complete probation. In February 2009, another
employee and co-defendant, Hector Henriquez,
was admitted into the Pre-Trial Intervention
program.
An investigation by the
Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
determined that Buckingham and his co-defendants
allegedly billed insurance companies for
auto repair work that they failed to complete.
In addition, the defendants allegedly billed
insurance companies for new auto repair
parts when they utilized old parts, and
billed the insurance companies to replace
auto parts when they merely repaired the
damaged auto parts. The defendants allegedly
enhanced damage to cars brought to the repair
facility so they could increase the amount
of auto insurance repair claims.
Among the insurance companies
to which allegedly false claims were submitted
were New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance
Company, Travelers Auto Insurance Company
(formerly known as First Trenton Indemnity),
Selective Insurance Company and Mercury
Insurance Company. Acting Insurance Fraud
Prosecutor Dagli thanked the insurance companies
for their assistance in this matter.
As part of the Office of the Insurance Fraud
Prosecutor’s investigation into this
case, a civil complaint seeking forfeiture
of property owned and used by Robert Christopher
Collision based on fraud was filed. As a
result, the court has ordered Buckingham
and Robert Christopher Associates Inc. not
to sell or otherwise transfer assets of
the business or the real property used by
the business. The pending complaint seeks
forfeiture of the assets and real estate
from Buckingham and alleges that the property
was used to commit the crimes alleged in
the indictment.
Detective Wendy Berg, Civil Investigator
Frank Crosson, and Deputy Attorneys General
Kristen Harberg, Christine Hoffman, Carol
Stanton Meier and John Higgins were assigned
to the investigation. Harberg presented
the case to the grand jury and Higgins represented
the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
at the guilty plea hearing. The National
Insurance Crime Bureau assisted with the
investigation.
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