TRENTON
- Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Criminal
Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor announced
that a Bergen County man, who is currently
a fugitive on an unrelated matter, has been
indicted for allegedly passing bad checks
to a Union County golf club.
According to Acting Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor Riza Dagli, John Getchius,
61, whose last known address was in Garfield,
was charged Friday (May 7) with theft by
deception and three counts of issuing bad
checks, all in the third degree.
The Union County Grand Jury indictment alleges
that between May 5 and Aug. 31, 2009, Getchius
fraudulently obtained property and services
from Suburban Golf Club (SGC), located in
Union, by creating the false impression
that he would make payments. The indictment
alleges that Getchius wrote three checks
to SGC, worth a total of $9,473, drawn from
Capitol One Bank and the Sovereign Bank,
knowing that the banks would not honor the
checks.
Getchius
is currently a fugitive after failing to
appear at his sentencing on Nov. 20, 2009.
A bench warrant has been issued for his
arrest. He was scheduled to be sentenced
after pleading guilty to two counts of second-degree
insurance fraud and two counts of third-degree
insurance fraud. The charges were contained
in an Aug. 7, 2008 Bergen County grand jury
indictment. According to the plea agreement,
the state was going to recommend that Getchius
be sentenced to seven years in state prison
and ordered to pay $25,600 in restitution
and a $50,000 civil fine.
In pleading guilty on June
11, 2009, Getchius admitted that between
Feb. 25, 2004 and Dec. 27, 2007, he used
a variety of aliases and assumed identities
to commit insurance fraud involving marine
insurance policies. Getchius submitted $64,000
worth of fictitious insurance claims alleging
that five dinghies, five outboard motors,
a life raft and a marine tender were lost
at sea on various dates. As a result of
the fraud, Getchius received $25,600. The
fraudulent claims were submitted to several
insurance companies, including the New Hampshire
Insurance Company, the Northern Assurance
Company of America, the Quadrant Indemnity
Company, the Vigilant (Chubb) Insurance
Company, and the Zurich/Northern Insurance
Company of New York.
Detective Earl Washington
and Deputy Attorney General Dennis Kwasnik
were assigned to the investigation. Deputy
Attorney General Kwasnik presented the case
to the Union County grand jury. Acting Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor Dagli thanked the Suburban
Golf Club for referring this matter to the
Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
and for their assistance in the investigation.
The indictment is merely
an accusation and the defendant is presumed
innocent until proven guilty. Third-degree
crimes carry a maximum sentence of five
years in state prison and a criminal fine
of $15,000.
Acting
Fraud Prosecutor Dagli 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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