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TRENTON - Attorney General
Paula T. Dow and Criminal Justice Director
Stephen J. Taylor announced that two Hudson
County men have been indicted for their
alleged roles in an identity theft and insurance
fraud scam.
According to Acting Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor Riza Dagli, Remny Gomez,
23, of West New York, was charged Friday
(Aug. 27) with second-degree theft of identity,
as well as trafficking in personal identifying
information, insurance fraud, attempted
theft by deception, receiving stolen property,
and two counts of theft by deception (all
in the third degree). William Collado, 27,
also of West New York, was charged with
third-degree insurance fraud.
The Union County grand jury
indictment alleges that between Feb. 16
and March 13, 2008, Gomez fraudulently used
other people’s personal identifying
information to commit insurance fraud and
to make credit card purchases without their
authorization.
Gomez was arrested on March
13, 2008 while allegedly attempting to use
a $100 gift card to purchase an $850 computer
in a Walmart in Secaucus. A vigilant check-out
clerk noticed that the account numbers on
the check-out slip did not match the numbers
on the gift card. Further investigation
revealed that Gomez allegedly possessed
a number of credit cards that had been “re-encoded.”
These are credit cards where another account
number has been stolen and then used to
overwrite the information on the magnetic
strip on the back of the card using a computer
and some additional equipment.
Specifically, it is alleged
that Gomez fraudulently possessed the following
documents:
- A New Jersey driver’s
license of another person. (Gomez allegedly
used this personal identifying information
to obtain automobile insurance in Pennsylvania
for a stolen 2003 BMW 745 with the Infinity
Insurance Group of Dallas, Texas, and
in New Jersey for a 1998 Lexus GS300 with
the IFA Insurance Agency in Clark);
- A Commerce Bank Visa
Debit card and an All Access Gift credit
card, both containing the personal identifying
information of other persons without their
authorization;
- A Bank of America Visa
card and a re-encoded Carver Federal Savings
Bank credit card without the owner’s
authorization;
- Two PNC Visa Check Cards,
a re-encoded U.S. Bank National Association
credit card, and a re-encoded Commerce
Bank Credit card, without the owners’
authorization; and
- A Best Buy Reward Zone
MasterCard and a re-encoded Citibank credit
card without the owner’s authorization.
The indictment also alleges
that Gomez used the fraudulent credit and
debit cards to make more than $4,300 worth
of purchases.
The indictment alleges that
Gomez was in possession of the stolen BMW
745, valued in excess of $30,000, which
he fraudulently insured knowing that it
had been stolen.
It is alleged that William
Collado assisted Gomez in using the personal
identifying information of another in an
electronic application for the purpose of
obtaining automobile insurance in New Jersey
for the 1998 Lexus GS300 with the IFA Insurance
Agency in Clark, including the other person’s
driver’s license number, date of birth
and address, without the knowledge or authorization
of the victim.
The insurance fraud was
allegedly committed by Gomez and Collado
working together to insure vehicles in the
name of an innocent victim. The alleged
fraud was discovered when the victim received
insurance documents in the mail concerning
a vehicle she had never purchased or insured
and reported the incident to the police.
The case will be venued
in Union County, where Gomez and Collado
will be ordered to appear in court to answer
the charges on a date to be determined.
Detective Jarek Pyrzanowski
and Deputy Attorney General John J. Higgins
were assigned to the investigation. Higgins
presented the case to the Union County grand
jury. Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
Dagli thanked the Jersey City Police Department,
the West New York Police Department, the
Weehawken Police Department and the Secaucus
Police Department for their assistance in
the investigation.
The indictment is merely
an accusation, and the defendants are presumed
innocent until proven guilty. Second-degree
crimes carry a maximum sentence of 10 years
in state prison and a criminal fine of $150,000,
while crimes of the third degree carry a
maximum sentence of five years in state
prison and a criminal fine of $15,000.
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