| TRENTON
- Attorney General Stuart Rabner and Division
of Criminal Justice Director Gregory A.
Paw announced that a former Prudential Insurance
Company employee and three other individuals
have been charged for their roles in a $13,600
phony check scam.
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, Melita Bilali, 28, of Wallington,
Greicy Rodriguez, 23, of Orlando, Fla.,
Wilson Ruiz, 24, of Paterson, and Guillermo
Rosario, 28, of Clifton, were indicted yesterday
by a state grand jury on third-degree charges
of theft by deception and conspiracy. Bilali
also was charged with second-degree computer
theft, third-degree money laundering and
two counts of third-degree uttering a forged
document.
The indictment alleges that between March
18 and May 3, 2002, Bilali, who was a customer
service representative in the Prudential
Insurance Company’s Disability Management
Services Division in Livingston, diverted
funds to herself and the other defendants.
It is charged that Bilali accessed Prudential’s
computer system and changed the addresses
on three policies to coincide with a friend’s
address. She then issued three fraudulent
claim checks for those policies to that
address. It is alleged that Bilali immediately
switched the policies back to reflect the
correct customer information. As a result,
the defendants allegedly stole more than
$7,500 in claims money from Prudential.
Ruiz allegedly was involved in cashing one
of the checks for $6,488.
Bilali
also allegedly diverted disability premium
checks that other companies sent to Prudential.
Specifically, Bilali allegedly gave Rosario
a check in the amount of $3,572 from Encompass
Management Company to cash so they could
share the proceeds. Rosario allegedly kept
the money for himself. In addition, Bilali
allegedly gave Rodriguez a check for approximately
$2,530 from Proctor & Gamble Pharmaceuticals.
Rodriguez allegedly cashed the check and
gave the money back to Bilali.
State
Investigator Janet Amberg and Deputy Attorney
General Joan M. Burke handled the case.
The indictment is merely an accusation and
the defendants are presumed innocent until
proven guilty. Crimes of the second-degree
carry a sentence of up to 10 years in state
prison and a criminal fine of $150,000,
while third-degree crimes carry a sentence
of up to five years in state prison and
a criminal fine of $15,000.
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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