TRENTON
- Attorney General Paula T. Dow announced
yesterday that Governor Chris Christie nominated
Bergen County resident Ronald Chillemi to
be the state’s Insurance Fraud Prosecutor.
“Ron
brings great energy and a wealth of investigative
and prosecutorial experience to this position,”
said Governor Christie. "He has dedicated
his career to prosecutorial public service.
I am confident that he will re-invigorate
the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor.”
Chillemi,
43, served for just under nine years as
an Assistant United States Attorney in both
Camden and Newark, where he prosecuted a
series of significant white-collar crime
cases and successfully tried numerous jury
trials. Chillemi has won two national awards
for his work as a federal prosecutor, including
a United States Department of Justice Director’s
Award for Superior Performance in 2006 and
being named “Prosecutor of the Year”
by the Federal Law Enforcement Foundation
in 2010. Prior to serving as a federal prosecutor,
Chillemi practiced civil law for two years
at the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania firm of
Dilworth Paxson LLP, and served four years
as an Assistant District Attorney in Philadelphia,
where he prosecuted a range of major felony
cases. Chillemi graduated from the University
of Pennsylvania in 1990, earned a Master’s
degree at the London School of Economics
& Political Science in 1991, and earned
his law degree from Cornell Law School in
1996.
Chillemi
must be confirmed by the New Jersey Senate.
He will serve in an acting capacity in the
interim.
“Ron
Chillemi brings an abundance of talent and
experience to his new position. The Department
of Law and Public Safety is fortunate to
have a quality professional of this magnitude,”
said Attorney General Dow. “I am confident
that he will build on the solid foundation
that the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
has established during its thirteen-year
history.”
“I
am honored to be nominated to this position
and look forward to leading the Office of
the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor in vigorously
investigating and prosecuting those who
seek to defraud our insurance systems,”
Chillemi said.
The
Insurance Fraud Prosecutor oversees the
investigation of all types of insurance
fraud, and serves as the focal point for
investigations of insurance and Medicaid
fraud in New Jersey. The Insurance Fraud
Prosecutor supervises a staff of 125 attorneys,
investigators, and support personnel. If
confirmed by the New Jersey Senate, Chillemi
will become the third Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
since the office was created in 1998. Both
prior Insurance Fraud Prosecutors, the Honorable
Edward M. Neafsey and the Honorable Greta
Gooden-Brown, now serve as judges of the
Superior Court of New Jersey.
Chillemi
lives in Bergen County with his wife. They
have one child.
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