| TRENTON
- Attorney General Stuart Rabner and Division
of Criminal Justice Director Gregory A.
Paw announced that a former Hudson County
Auto Body shop owner pleaded guilty today
to attempting to steal more than $9,000
by filing fraudulent insurance claims.
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, Louis Rivadeneira, 69, of West New
York, pleaded guilty before Superior Court
Judge Fred J. Theemling Jr. in Hudson County
to third-degree attempted theft by deception,
a charge contained in a May 9 Hudson County
grand jury indictment.
Rivadeneira,
the former owner and operator of Louis &
Sons Auto Body on Kennedy Boulevard in West
New York, also known as Louis’ Boulevard
Auto Body, admitted that between May 2000
and August 2003, he inflated auto body repair
claims he submitted to Allstate Insurance
Company and United Services Automobile Association.
An investigation by the Office of Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor determined that Rivadeneira
caused additional damage to cars he received
for repairs so he could inflate the insurance
claims. He also billed USAA for replacement
parts in instances when he repaired the
original parts and never purchased new ones.
State Investigator Jose Vendas and Deputy
Attorney General Nicole D. Rizzolo have
handled the case. Third-degree crimes carry
a sentence of up to five years in state
prison and a criminal fine of up to $15,000.
Rivadeneira may also face civil insurance
fraud fines. His sentencing is scheduled
for Dec. 15.
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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