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TRENTON
- Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal
Justice Director Gregory A. Paw, announced
that a Newark woman has been indicted for
her role in a phony bus accident insurance
claim.
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, Sharonda Thomas, 33, Newark, was
charged with second-degree health care claims
fraud, third-degree attempted theft by deception,
and fourth-degree false swearing. The indictment
was handed up today in Superior Court in
Morris County.
The
Morris County grand jury indictment alleges
that following a Jan. 26, 2006 Coach USA
bus accident in Newark, Thomas fraudulently
submitted five insurance claims worth a
total of $5,150 to the Discover Re Property
Casualty Insurance Company regarding an
injury she claimed to have sustained in
the accident. It is charged that Thomas
falsely claimed that she struck her head
on a glass partition of the bus when the
door of a parked car was opened and the
bus struck the door as it was traveling
down a street in Newark. An investigation
determined that Thomas had not struck her
head and, in fact, suffered no injuries
as a result of the accident. The Special
Investigative Unit of Discover Re denied
the claims and referred the case to the
Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor.
State
Investigators Laura Parisi and Amy Carson,
and Deputy Attorney General Cheryl A. Maccaroni
were assigned to the investigation. Maccaroni
presented the case to the Morris County
grand jury. Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Brown
thanks Discover Re for their assistance
in this matter, as well as Sedgwick CMS
and MJM Investigations Inc..
The
indictment is merely an accusation and the
defendant is presumed innocent until proven
guilty. Second-degree crimes carry a maximum
punishment of 10 years in state prison and
a criminal fine of $150,000, while third-degree
crimes carry a maximum punishment of five
years in state prison and a criminal fine
of $15,000. Fourth-degree crimes carry a
maximum punishment of 18 months in state
prison and a criminal fine of $10,000.
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