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TRENTON
- Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal
Justice Director Gregory A. Paw announced
that a New Yorker was sentenced to prison
today for his role in an auto theft ring
responsible for thefts of more than $3 million
worth of vehicles.
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, Waldemar Kondzielewski, 29, of Staten
Island, N.Y., was sentenced to 10 years
in state prison by Superior Court Judge
James C. Heimlich in Union County. Kondzielewski
was sentenced pursuant to his March 29 guilty
plea to an accusation which charged him
with second-degree conspiracy to commit
racketeering and second-degree racketeering.
At
the plea hearing, Kondzielewski admitted
that he was a member of an organized enterprise
that used fraudulently obtained key codes
to steal cars programmed with an electronic
code for unlocking and starting. The stolen
cars were re-tagged and sold, frequently
on eBay. A re-tagged or re-plated vehicle
is a vehicle which has had its original
vehicle identification number plate removed
and replaced with a VIN from another vehicle,
usually one that has been damaged in an
accident and is a salvage vehicle. It is
believed that more than 150 stolen vehicles
worth more than $3 million were stolen,
re-tagged, and sold by this ring.
“Since
March, four members of this major auto theft
ring have received lengthy prison sentences
as a result of our joint investigation with
authorities in Pennsylvania and New York,”
said Attorney General Milgram. “Criminal
activity does not halt at state borders,
and neither do our investigations, thanks
to the law enforcement partnerships we have
forged.”
On
March 23, Superior Court Judge Scott J.
Moynihan in Union County sentenced the leader
of the ring, Dariusz Grabowski, 37, of Lake
Ariel, Pa., to 20 years in state prison,
with eight years parole ineligibility, on
charges of leading organized crime, conspiracy
and racketeering. His brother Krzysztof
Grabowski, 26, of Lake Ariel, was sentenced
on the same day to 15 years in prison, with
seven years parole ineligibility, on charges
of conspiracy, racketeering and altering
a vehicle identification number. Both men
pleaded guilty on Feb. 8.
A
third man, Patrick Gutorski, 32, of Lake
Ariel, pleaded guilty on Feb. 21 to conspiracy
and racketeering and was sentenced on April
5 to 10 years in prison, with three years
parole ineligibility.
The
Division of Criminal Justice - Office of
Insurance Fraud Prosecutor participated
in this multi-jurisdictional investigation
with the New Jersey State Police, the Pennsylvania
State Police and the New York Attorney General’s
Office.
State
Investigators Jarek Pyrzanowski, Jeffrey
Lorman, Joseph Luccarelli, and Kelly Howard,
Civil Investigator Gary Miller, Analysts
Paula Carter and Barbara Ziolkowski, and
Deputy Attorneys General Philip J. Mogavero
and Jacqueline Smith coordinated the investigation.
Smith represented the Office of Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor at the sentencing. New
Jersey State Police Detective Joseph Salokas
and National Insurance Crime Bureau Agent
Donald Cavallo also assisted in the investigation.
“Frequently
insurance fraud investigations lead to evidence
of stolen automobiles and alteration of
vehicle identification numbers,” said
Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Brown. “This
particular investigation uncovered a multi-million
dollar auto theft ring.”
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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