| TRENTON
- Attorney General Zulima V. Farber and
Division of Criminal Justice Director Gregory
A. Paw announced that a Staten Island, N.Y.
woman has pleaded guilty to insurance fraud
for stealing more than $37,000 in a car
theft and insurance fraud conspiracy.
According to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
Greta Gooden Brown, Monika Fijalkowska,
31, Lisk Avenue, Staten Island, N.Y., pleaded
guilty before Superior Court Judge Scott
J. Moynihan of Union County to two counts
of third-degree insurance fraud. Crimes
of the third degree carry sentences of up
to five years in state prison and a criminal
fine of up to $15,000. Fijalkowska may also
face civil insurance fraud fines.
At the guilty plea hearing today, Fijalkowska
admitted that she submitted phony insurance
claims for two separate fake automobile
thefts. Fijalkowska admitted that on Dec.
15, 2004, she falsely reported to the New
York City Police Department that her 2001
BMW X5 was stolen, and subsequently filed
a fraudulent insurance claim with Allstate
Insurance Company. Fijalkowska alleged that
a camera and a Panasonic Home Surround system
worth more than $1,200 also were stolen.
Allstate paid Fijalkowska more than $11,800
for that false claim.
Fijalkowska also admitted that she falsely
reported the theft of a 2003 Audi A4 to
the New York City Police Department. She
submitted a fraudulent claim to the Allstate
Insurance Company, which paid Fijalkowska
more than $25,772. Fijalkowska admitted
that in both cases, she “gave up”
her car to another person in order to file
the false claim.
The Division of Criminal Justice-Office
of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor has been investigating
phony automobile theft insurance claims
and automobile thefts committed by a gang
of persons of Eastern European descent operating
in Pennsylvania, northern New Jersey and
New York. The cars were either given up
or stolen, then retagged and sold at far
below market value, many on eBay.
State
Investigators Jeffrey Lorman and Jarek Pyrzanowski,
Civil Investigator Gary Miller, and Deputy
Attorney General Jacqueline D. Smith investigated
this case, and Smith represented the state
at the guilty plea hearing.
“We
are investigating organized gangs that are
stealing cars in New Jersey and soliciting
owners to give up their cars and submit
phony insurance claims,” said Fraud
Prosecutor Brown. “Some people are
willing to lie to an insurance company and
report their cars stolen to avoid a repair
bill or expensive end-of-lease payments.
We will not tolerate such fraud.”
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