Acting NJ Attorney General John J. Hoffman and the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor (OIFP) announced today that two South Jersey corporations and five of their officials have been indicted in an alleged workers compensation fraud scheme that bilked nearly $600,000 from an insurance carrier.
Showing posts with label Insurance Fraud. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Insurance Fraud. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 3, 2016
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
A Real Mess
Corporate fraud is a major problem in the workers' compensation system.Today's guest post authored by David Depaola is shared from http://daviddepaolo.blogspot.com and highlights a very serious problem with the nation'a workers' compensation system.
What do Oklahoma, New York, Washington, Kentucky and Florida have in common?
If it's workers' compensation, then the connection is a far reaching scheme involving millions of dollars, failed insurance companies and professional employer organizations. A federal grand jury in New York back in October 2012 indicted Wilbur Anthony Huff, principal behind a couple of professional employer organizations, Matthew Morris, Park Avenue Bank's former senior vice president, and Allen Reichman, the former director of investments at New York investment house Oppenheimer & Co. that Huff and Morris engaged with former bank president and Chief Executive Officer Charles Antonucci in an elaborate conspiracy to plunder Park Avenue Property and Casualty, formerly known as Providence Property and Casualty Insurance Co., and its subsidiary, Imperial Casualty and Indemnity, and artificially inflate the bank's assets to secure funding from the federal Troubled Asset Relief Program. U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a press release that Huff, who secretly controlled South Florida PEOs O2HR and Certified HR Services, was at the "vortex of fraud" in a series of schemes involving more than $100... |
Read more about "corporate fraud" and workers' compensation:
Nov 03, 2011
"Fraudulent practices by publicly held corporations have contributed to the economic difficulties currently facing our nation," said OSHA Assistant Secretary Dr. David Michaels. "The best way to prevent this from happening in ...
Jul 12, 2012
Corporate Workers Compensation Fraud: California Targets Underground Economy. Sweep targets contractors operating in California's underground economy. Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones today announced that a ...
Jul 11, 2012
OSHA: Corporate Fraud Contributed To Nation's Economic Problems. The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration will publish interim final rules in the Nov. 3 Federal Register that revise the .
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Insurance Company Broker Caught Cooking the Books
NJ Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa announced that an employee of a former Morris County insurance brokerage company pleaded guilty today to stealing several million dollars entrusted to her employer. These funds had been entrusted to the insurance brokerage for the purpose of purchasing insurance policies for small and medium-sized businesses in New Jersey and New York.
Kelly Roetto, 45, of Bedminster, pleaded guilty to an accusation charging her with second-degree theft by unlawful taking, second-degree issuing bad checks, and second-degree misconduct by a corporate official before Superior Court Judge Thomas V. Manahan in Morris County.
Judge Manahan scheduled sentencing for Dec. 19.Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend that Roetto be sentenced to nine years in state prison. In addition, Roetto will be ordered to pay restitution and will agree to never again obtain an insurance license in the State of New Jersey.
“This defendant used her position of trust within this insurance brokerage firm to divert millions of dollars,” Attorney General Chiesa said. “My office will continue to work with the insurance industry to root out corrupt insurance brokers.”
“This crime attacked the integrity of our insurance system by deceiving both companies seeking insurance and companies that finance such insurance,” Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Ronald Chillemi said. “Such crimes warrant vigorous prosecution and serious sanctions.”
At the time of the crime, Roetto was the controller for a now-defunct insurance brokerage called the John A. Rocco Co., Inc. (JarCo), located in Florham Park. JarCo was in the business of obtaining insurance policies on behalf of small and medium-sized trucking, hauling, waste management, moving, and recycling businesses located in New Jersey and New York. As part of its operations, JarCo would arrange for these businesses to finance the cost of such insurance policies, and used its existing relationships with numerous premium finance companies for this purpose. In her capacity as the Controller for JarCo, Roetto was responsible for arranging this financing and for ensuring that the borrowed funds were forwarded from JarCo’s bank accounts to the insurance carriers or their respective agents.
In pleading guilty, Roetto admitted that between January 1, 2008 and May 28, 2010, she used her position as JarCo’s controller to steal between $3,800,000 and $5,000,000 of financed proceeds. The state’s investigation revealed that Roetto was able to perpetrate these offenses by capitalizing on the complexity of the premium finance transaction process using a combination of different schemes. For example, Roetto admitted that she knew that these finance companies sent financed proceeds to JarCo with the understanding that they would be used to purchase insurance policies on behalf of businesses seeking coverage. She further admitted that on numerous occasions she failed to send this money to the carriers and, instead, exercised unlawful control over such money by using it for a purpose other than its intended purpose.
Roetto also admitted that she caused unauthorized finance agreements to be submitted to these finance companies and that she used the proceeds obtained in connection with these unauthorized agreements for unlawful purposes. In addition, Roetto admitted that she used her position to issue more than 200 bad checks totaling more than $2,000,000. These checks were drawn on many of JarCo’s bank accounts at not fewer than 10 banks.
Read More About Insurance Company/Employer Fraud
Kelly Roetto, 45, of Bedminster, pleaded guilty to an accusation charging her with second-degree theft by unlawful taking, second-degree issuing bad checks, and second-degree misconduct by a corporate official before Superior Court Judge Thomas V. Manahan in Morris County.
Judge Manahan scheduled sentencing for Dec. 19.Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend that Roetto be sentenced to nine years in state prison. In addition, Roetto will be ordered to pay restitution and will agree to never again obtain an insurance license in the State of New Jersey.
“This defendant used her position of trust within this insurance brokerage firm to divert millions of dollars,” Attorney General Chiesa said. “My office will continue to work with the insurance industry to root out corrupt insurance brokers.”
“This crime attacked the integrity of our insurance system by deceiving both companies seeking insurance and companies that finance such insurance,” Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Ronald Chillemi said. “Such crimes warrant vigorous prosecution and serious sanctions.”
At the time of the crime, Roetto was the controller for a now-defunct insurance brokerage called the John A. Rocco Co., Inc. (JarCo), located in Florham Park. JarCo was in the business of obtaining insurance policies on behalf of small and medium-sized trucking, hauling, waste management, moving, and recycling businesses located in New Jersey and New York. As part of its operations, JarCo would arrange for these businesses to finance the cost of such insurance policies, and used its existing relationships with numerous premium finance companies for this purpose. In her capacity as the Controller for JarCo, Roetto was responsible for arranging this financing and for ensuring that the borrowed funds were forwarded from JarCo’s bank accounts to the insurance carriers or their respective agents.
In pleading guilty, Roetto admitted that between January 1, 2008 and May 28, 2010, she used her position as JarCo’s controller to steal between $3,800,000 and $5,000,000 of financed proceeds. The state’s investigation revealed that Roetto was able to perpetrate these offenses by capitalizing on the complexity of the premium finance transaction process using a combination of different schemes. For example, Roetto admitted that she knew that these finance companies sent financed proceeds to JarCo with the understanding that they would be used to purchase insurance policies on behalf of businesses seeking coverage. She further admitted that on numerous occasions she failed to send this money to the carriers and, instead, exercised unlawful control over such money by using it for a purpose other than its intended purpose.
Roetto also admitted that she caused unauthorized finance agreements to be submitted to these finance companies and that she used the proceeds obtained in connection with these unauthorized agreements for unlawful purposes. In addition, Roetto admitted that she used her position to issue more than 200 bad checks totaling more than $2,000,000. These checks were drawn on many of JarCo’s bank accounts at not fewer than 10 banks.
Read More About Insurance Company/Employer Fraud
Jul 12, 2012
Corporate Workers Compensation Fraud: California Targets Underground Economy. Sweep targets contractors operating in California's underground economy. Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones today announced that a ...
Apr 11, 2011
Perception is reality until proven otherwise, and when it comes to fraud in the workers' compensation system there is the perception that employee fraud is widespread and costs are up because of employee fraud. Could that ...
Mar 04, 2012
Premium Fraud: North Carolina Man Sentenced on Workers' Compensation Insurance Scam. English: The Seal of the United States Federal... Image via Wikipedia. Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern ...
Apr 14, 2011
In recent testimony before the US House of Representatives' Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, David C. Williams, Inspector General of the US Postal Service, reported widespread fraud in the system, and with ...
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