TRENTON
- Attorney General Stuart Rabner and Criminal
Justice Director Gregory A. Paw announced
that a New York man has pleaded guilty for
his leadership role in an auto theft and
insurance fraud ring.
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, Artur Czubek, 28, of Staten Island,
N.Y., pleaded guilty today before Superior
Court Judge Scott J. Moynihan in Union County
to a criminal accusation that charged him
with leading an auto theft trafficking network,
a second-degree offense. The ring had a
base of operations in Linden, where stolen
cars were sold.
At
the guilty plea hearing, Czubek admitted
that between Nov. 22, 2004 and Oct. 22,
2005, he was involved in a conspiracy to
steal cars and accept owner initiated “give
up” vehicles so that more than a dozen
fraudulent insurance claims could be submitted.
A “give up” occurs when the
owner of a car voluntarily gives it to another
so that a false theft claim can be submitted
and the car can be chopped for parts or
retagged with a new vehicle identification
number and sold.
Czubek
was involved with 13 car thefts or give-ups
and the resale of those cars. Nine of the
cars were stolen, including some from automobile
dealerships. They were sold to undercover
investigators for a total of $26,000, but
had an actual combined value of more then
$562,000. The remaining four cars were owner
give-ups. The undercover investigation determined
that Czubek received $4,300 for those vehicles,
which were valued at a total of $133,000.
Crimes
of the second degree carry a sentence of
up to 10 years in state prison and a criminal
fine of up to $150,000. Czubek may also
face civil insurance fraud fines.
“This guilty plea is part of an ongoing
multi-state investigation into the activities
of a gang of car thieves,” said Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden Brown. “We
are coordinating our efforts in New Jersey
with those of law enforcement agencies in
New York and Pennsylvania for maximum results.”
The
case has been handled by State Investigators
Jeffrey Lorman, Jarek Pyrzanowski, Joseph
Luccarelli, and Kelly Howard, Civil Investigator
Gary Miller and Deputy Attorney General
Jacqueline D. Smith, with assistance from
State Investigators Luis Cruz and Wendy
Wylie, former State Investigator Karen Rivera
and Donald Cavallo of the National Insurance
Crimes Bureau. American Road, Geico and
Auto One insurance companies also assisted.
Prosecutor Brown 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 at 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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