| TRENTON
- Attorney General Stuart Rabner and Division
of Criminal Justice Director Gregory A.
Paw announced that a Camden County businessman
and his girlfriend have pleaded guilty to
filing thousands of dollars in fraudulent
insurance claims for chiropractic services
and supplies provided to accident victims,
many of whom were recruited with “runners.”
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, Orlando Rolon, 49, of Runnemede,
pleaded guilty on Oct. 30 to third-degree
criminal use of runners before Judge Samuel
D. Natal in Superior Court in Camden County.
Yesterday, Rolon’s accomplice, Erika
Ramos, 32, of Pennsauken, pleaded guilty
to fourth-degree uttering a forged document.
Rolon admitted that between Jan. 11, 2000
and Nov. 3, 2001, he used runners to solicit
accident victims as patients for his Brotherhood
Rehabilitation clinic on Westfield Avenue
in Camden, which provided chiropractic treatments,
physical therapy and other medical services
to patients injured in automobile accidents.
Rolon owned and operated several companies
that provided medical treatments, supplies
and transportation services, including Brotherhood
Rehabilitation Associates P.C. of Camden,
JOL&M Medical Supply Company of Berlin,
and OR Medical Transport of Camden. Investigators
linked Rolon and his companies to approximately
$135,000 in fraudulent claims.
Rolon,
who had no medical or chiropractic license,
created the false appearance that the Brotherhood
clinic was owned and operated by a licensed
chiropractor. At her plea hearing yesterday,
Ramos admitted she assisted Rolon by submitting
insurance claims bearing the name of Michael
Marek, a deceased chiropractor. This was
done to induce insurance carriers to pay
claims under the belief that Dr. Marek owned
the clinic and supervised medical procedures
provided to patients. Ramos, a clinic employee,
allegedly was listed as the owner/operator
of JOL&M Medical Supply so that it would
appear to insurance companies that JOL&M
was independent from Brotherhood.
Rolon
admitted that runners attracted patients
to the Brotherhood clinic by offering payments
of $200 to $300. Patients were directed
to purchase medical supplies from JOL&M,
such as TENS Units for treatment of soft
tissue injuries, and to receive transportation
to and from the clinic from OR Medical Transport.
State
Investigator Weldon Powell, Civil Investigator
Shawn Stewart and Supervising Deputy Attorney
General Norma R. Evans handled the case.
Rolon
and Ramos are scheduled to appear for sentencing
before Judge Natale on Feb. 23, 2007. Third-degree
crimes carry sentences of up to five years
in state prison and a criminal fine of $15,000,
while fourth-degree crimes carry sentences
of up to 18 months in state prison and a
criminal fine of $10,000. The defendants
also may face civil insurance fraud fines.
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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