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TRENTON
Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Criminal
Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor announced
that a former Hudson County insurance producer
has pleaded guilty to a theft charge for
failing to remit insurance premiums to insurance
carriers.
According
to Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Ronald
Chillemi, Jose D. Uribe, 44, of Union City,
pleaded guilty yesterday before Superior
Court Judge Paul M. DePascale in Hudson
County to a criminal accusation which charged
him with third-degree theft by deception.
Judge
DePascale scheduled sentencing for July
8. Under the plea agreement, the state will
recommend that Uribe be sentenced to 180
days in county jail. Uribe will also be
ordered to pay $76,819.03 in restitution.
On March 31, 2011, the New Jersey Department
of Banking and Insurance revoked the insurance
producer licenses of Uribe and his company
and ordered him to pay $92,500 in fines.
At
the guilty plea hearing, Uribe, a former
insurance producer for the now defunct Inter
America Insurance Agency, LLC, admitted
that between May 30, 2003 and Feb. 22, 2010,
he obtained $76,819 in insurance premiums
from seven clients by creating the false
impression that he was remitting the monies
to insurance carriers to secure commercial
automobile insurance. In reality, he did
not remit the premium payments to the insurance
carriers.
Also
yesterday, Uribe pleaded guilty to an accusation
filed by the Hudson County Prosecutor’s
Office which charged him with third-degree
insurance fraud.
Detective
Earl Washington and Deputy Attorney General
Nicole D. Rizzolo were assigned to the investigation.
Rizzolo represented the state at the guilty
plea hearing. Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
Chillemi thanked Detective Sgt. Mary Reinke
and Assistant Prosecutor Michael Zevits
of the Hudson County Prosecutor’s
Office, Deputy Attorney General William
Puskas of the Department of Law and Public
Safety’s Division of Law, and Investigator
Daxesh "Anil" Patel of the Department
of Banking and Insurance for their assistance
in the investigation.
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