TRENTON
- Attorney General Stuart Rabner and Division
of Criminal Justice Director Gregory A.
Paw announced that two police officers have
been indicted on charges of conspiracy,
official misconduct and theft for allegedly
filing false accident reports to further
an insurance fraud scheme involving an auto
body shop in Roselle.
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, a state grand jury indicted Samad
Abdel, 42, of Roselle, a Plainfield police
detective, and John A. Smith, 37, of Columbus,
a police officer with the Borough of Roselle.
The officers were charged in a superseding
indictment including seven other defendants
who were indicted on Aug. 9. The indictment
was handed up to Superior Court Judge Linda
R. Feinberg in Mercer County late yesterday.
Abdel
was charged with second-degree conspiracy,
two counts of second-degree official misconduct,
third-degree attempted theft by deception
and third-degree theft by deception. Smith
was charged with second-degree conspiracy,
two counts of second-degree official misconduct
and two counts of third-degree theft by
deception.
The
indictment alleges that Abdel, in his role
as an officer with the Plainfield Police
Department, filed two false police reports
regarding automobile accidents that he knew
were staged or fictitious so that fraudulent
insurance claims could be submitted. The
indictment alleges that Smith, in his role
as an officer with the Roselle Police Department,
also allegedly filed two false police reports
regarding accidents that he knew were staged
or fictitious in order to support fraudulent
insurance claims.
“The
indictment alleges that these two police
officers abused the trust and authority
of their positions by writing false accident
reports to substantiate phony insurance
claims,” said Attorney General Rabner.
“We have zero tolerance for police
officers who break the laws they are sworn
to uphold.”
The
new indictment includes the following charges
against these additional defendants, which
match the charges contained in the Aug.
9 indictment:
-
Marco Rebelo, 33, of
Avenel, the owner and operator of Creative
Auto Body at 409 East 1st Avenue in Roselle,
is charged with conspiracy, theft by deception
and misconduct by a corporate official,
all in the second-degree, as well as third-degree
tampering with public records or information;
-
Eli Vasquez, 34, currently
incarcerated at Bayside State Prison,
is charged with second-degree conspiracy
and four counts of third-degree theft
and attempted theft by deception;
-
Danny DaCosta, 26, of
Elizabeth, is charged with second-degree
conspiracy and two counts of third-degree
theft by deception;
-
Rogerio Neves, 37, of
Elizabeth, is charged with second-degree
conspiracy and third-degree attempted
theft by deception;
-
Rui Correia, 27, of Elizabeth,
is charged with second-degree conspiracy
and third-degree attempted theft by deception;
-
Charles T. Smith, 36,
of Willingboro, is charged with third-degree
theft by deception; and
- Marquita
Best, 32, of Linden, is charged
with third-degree theft by deception.
Under
state law, second-degree crimes carry a
sentence of up to 10 years in prison and
a criminal fine of $150,000, while third-degree
crimes carry a sentence of up to five years
in prison and a criminal fine of $15,000.
In addition, the defendants may face civil
insurance fraud fines. The indictment is
merely an accusation and the defendants
are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
“Staged
car accidents are a particularly egregious
form of insurance fraud because of the potential
they present for injury or even death,”
said Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Brown.“Today’s
indictment demonstrates our resolve to vigorously
investigate and prosecute this type of crime.”
The
indictment alleges that the defendants reported
a total of seven staged or fictitious car
accidents between March 2001 and March 2003
and filed more than $117,800 in fraudulent
automobile insurance property damage claims
based on those phony accidents. The defendants
allegedly provided false information for
police accident reports from the Roselle
and Plainfield Police Departments which
were used to substantiate the auto accident
insurance claims.
Claims
were filed with Progressive Insurance Company,
Great American Insurance Company, Clarendon
National Insurance Company, State Farm Insurance
Company and Liberty Mutual Insurance Company.
Approximately $94,200 was paid by the insurance
companies.
The case was assigned to Union County, where
the defendants will be ordered to appear
in court at a later date to answer the charges.
State
Investigators Thomas Harrington and Lisa
Egan, Civil Investigators Raymond Britton,
Arthur Williams and Joseph Burro, Administrative
Analyst Christine Runkle and Deputy Attorney
General Joseph J. Egan Jr. handled the case.
Prosecutor Brown noted that people who 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.
>> Abdel
and Smith Indictment (609k pdf) plug-in
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