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TRENTON
- First Assistant Attorney General Anne
Milgram and Division of Criminal Justice
Director Gregory A. Paw announced that a
former sergeant with the Hamilton Township
Police Department was sentenced to state
prison today after being convicted at trial
of offering bribes to the chiefs of several
volunteer fire departments.
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, Jeffrey Nemes, 41, of Hamilton Township,
was sentenced today to eight years in state
prison by Superior Court Judge Charles A.
Delehey in Mercer County. A Mercer County
jury found Nemes guilty on March 22 of two
counts of bribery in official and political
matters, as well as one count of conspiracy.
The charges were contained in a Dec. 18,
2003 state grand jury indictment.
The
jury found that on at least two occasions,
Nemes approached the chiefs of two Hamilton
Township volunteer fire companies and offered
up to $500 cash and other rewards if the
chiefs would delay response to fire scenes,
hold back fire suppression, and/or cause
additional damage at fire scenes by knocking
out windows, walls and roofs. The impact
of such actions would have been to increase
fire and property damage and, as a result,
increase insurance claims and potential
profits for Nemes’ construction company
and his co-conspirator’s insurance
adjustment firm.
“The
defendant was sworn to uphold the law and
protect lives, but instead he broke the
law in a way that showed complete disregard
for the safety of firefighters and the public,”
said First Assistant Attorney General Milgram.
“This prison sentence represents an
appropriate punishment for his crimes.”
In
convicting Nemes, the jury determined that
on April 22, 1998, Nemes offered cash to
a Hamilton Township volunteer fire chief
as part of a scheme to delay firefighting
response and to increase damage at fire
locations. The jury also concluded that
on June 24, 1998, Nemes and Marc Rossi,
the former owner of Rossi Adjustment Services,
conspired to bribe a second fire company
chief to engage in similar conduct designed
to enhance financial profit for both Nemes
and Rossi. The Insurance Fraud Prosecutor’s
investigation did not uncover any evidence
that the fire chiefs or the volunteer fire
companies delayed any response to fire scenes
or in any way jeopardized the life or property
of area residents as a result of the alleged
bribery scheme.
Prosecutor
Brown noted that on Nov. 10, 2003, Rossi
pleaded guilty to bribery and operating
an “arson-for-profit” insurance
fraud scheme responsible for at least six
arson fires which netted more than $500,000
in insurance settlement claims. Rossi admitted
to intentionally causing the fires so his
public insurance adjustment business would
be hired to adjust the insurance claims.
The arson fires occurred in and around the
Trenton area between Jan. 22, 1999 and Aug.
10, 1999. On March 19, 2004, Rossi was sentenced
to eight years in state prison and ordered
to pay $542,853 in restitution. He was also
ordered to pay a $50,000 civil insurance
fraud fine.
State
Investigator Robert Stemmer and Civil Investigator
Joseph Salvatore coordinated the investigation.
They were assisted by Sgt. Marvin Johnson
of the Trenton Police Department. Supervising
Deputy Attorney General Lewis J. Korngut
represented the Division of Criminal Justice
at sentencing and at the trial.
“We
will continue to focus on corruption and
insurance fraud to protect the public from
this type of misconduct,” said Criminal
Justice Director Paw. “It’s
extremely disturbing that a police officer
would put greed ahead of the law and the
safety of those he took an oath to protect.”
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
site 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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