| According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, Guy Cardinale, 47, of Fair Haven,
a licensed insurance agent, pleaded guilty
before Superior Court Judge Anthony J. Mellaci,
Jr. in Monmouth County, to second-degree
theft by deception and four counts of third-degree
theft by deception. The charges were contained
in a July 28, 2006 state grand jury indictment.
At the guilty plea hearing, Cardinale, who
was employed as an agent for the Canada
Life Assurance Company, admitted that between
July and December 2002, he submitted life
insurance policy applications and supporting
records to create the impression that customers
had purchased various life insurance policies
when, in fact, they had not purchased insurance.
An investigation by the Division of Criminal
Justice - Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
determined that Cardinale allegedly submitted
the fraudulent documents to the Canada Life
Assurance Company in order to collect more
than $346,025 in up-front commissions for
four fictitious sales of insurance.
Director
Paw noted that Cardinale also pleaded guilty
before Judge Mellaci to an unrelated criminal
accusation which charged him with third-degree
issuing bad checks. Cardinale admitted that
between July 25 and Aug. 28, 2006, he issued
a check in the amount of $66,488 to Transamerica
in connection with the purchase of a life
insurance policy on his own life. The check
was twice dishonored by Sovereign Bank.
State
Investigator Robert Stemmer and Deputy Attorney
General Nicole D. Rizzolo were assigned
to the investigation. Rizzolo represented
the state at the guilty plea hearing. The
Department of Banking and Insurance routinely
assists the Office of the Insurance Fraud
Prosecutor with the investigation and prosecution
of licensed insurance agents. This assistance
enables the State to coordinate criminal
investigations and prosecutions with any
imposition of licensing sanctions in all
such cases in order to protect the public.
“It
is particularly disturbing when licensed
insurance agents engage in fraud,”
Prosecutor Brown said. “We will continue
to vigorously prosecute those involved in
this type of criminal activity.”
Second-degree
crimes carry sentences of up to 10 years
in state prison, and a criminal fine of
up to $150,000, while crimes of the third
degree carry sentences of up to five years
in state prison, and a criminal fine of
up to $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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