TRENTON
- Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Criminal
Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor announced
that a Camden County man and a Gloucester
County man were indicted today for allegedly
conspiring in an automobile “give
up” scheme in order to collect insurance
proceeds.
According
to Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Riza
Dagli, Shannon Daney, 34, of Pine Hill,
and Nicola (aka Nick) Bellapingna, 34, of
Deptford, were charged with conspiracy to
commit insurance fraud, insurance fraud,
and attempted theft by deception, all in
the third degree.
The
Gloucester County grand jury indictment
alleges that between Nov. 2, 2006 and Feb.
26, 2007, Daney and Bellapingna conspired
to falsely report to the Glassboro and Washington
Township Police Departments that Daney’s
2006 Honda Civic had been stolen. The indictment
further alleges that the defendants reported
the purported theft to the Liberty Mutual
Insurance Company and attempted to obtain
approximately $13,000 from Liberty Mutual
by creating the false impression that the
Honda had been stolen.
The
investigation by the Office of the Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor revealed that earlier in
the evening on Nov. 2, 2006, the Honda had
been involved in an automobile accident
in Washington Township and could not have
been stolen from a parking lot in Glassboro
later that evening.
Detective Christina Fiscella, Civil Investigator
Robert Rosiello, and Deputy Attorney General
Candy Cure were assigned to the investigation.
Cure presented the case to the Gloucester
County grand jury. Acting Insurance Fraud
Prosecutor Dagli also thanked the Liberty
Mutual Insurance Company for its assistance
in the investigation.
The
indictment is merely an accusation and the
defendants are presumed innocent until proven
guilty. Third-degree crimes carry a maximum
punishment of five years in state prison
and a criminal fine of $15,000. The defendants
also face the possibility of civil insurance
fraud fines.
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