February 2, 2000

INSURANCE FRAUD UNIT FORMED

      TRENTON – An investigation by the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office new Insurance Fraud Unit has led to the unit’s first three indictments today, Prosecutor Daniel G. Giaquinto announced.

      The new Insurance Fraud Unit, headed by Assistant Prosecutor Lawrence J.T. McGivney, has been funded by a grant from the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor, a division of the state Attorney General’s Office.

      Giaquinto said his office sought the grant to provide the prosecutor’s office with the means to effectively address the problem of insurance fraud within Mercer County. In the last almost three years, approximately 470 cases of suspected fraud in claims originating in Mercer County were referred to various state agencies for action. During that same time, the Economic Crime Unit of the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office had only six insurance fraud matters forwarded to it for investigation, Giaquinto said.

      “Scarcity of resources has prevented the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office from sufficiently addressing the problem of insurance fraud in the past,” Giaquinto said.

      “It was our goal to significantly increase county prosecutors’ involvement in the investigation and prosecution of insurance fraud case referrals from the State and other agencies and to engage in pro-active insurance fraud investigation,” State Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Edward Neafsey said.

      Giaquinto said the new unit will be investigating and prosecuting a wide variety of insurance fraud-related crimes primarily involving motor vehicle, medical and Worker’s Compensation claims.

      To maintain good faith when compensating victims who have endured a hardship, insurance carriers act quickly to process and pay claims, Giaquinto noted. This frequently makes insurance companies vulnerable to criminals who seek to exploit insurers’ efforts to promptly satisfy claims.

      Traditionally, insurance fraud falls into three major categories: insurance claim fraud; property repair fraud; and fraud associated with the processing of claims. Criminal activity associated with insurance fraud may take many forms including bribery, kickbacks, misrepresentation, concealment, forgery and theft, Giaquinto said.

      “The cost of such illicit activity is inevitably passed on to the consumer in escalating insurance rates leaving many hardworking citizens unable to afford adequate insurance coverage for themselves and their families,” Giaquinto said.

      Before the obtainment of the grant and the formation of the new unit, suspected insurance fraud cases were handled within the universe of “white collar” cases that were investigated by the Economic Crime Unit of the prosecutor’s office. That unit, staffed by only one assistant prosecutor and three investigators, also investigates the non-insurance-related crimes that include theft by deception, embezzlement, forgery and bad checks, devoting innumerable hours to the increasingly complex demands of investigating financial crimes. As a result, it was impossible for that unit to absorb an insurance fraud caseload that was truly representative of the amount of insurance fraud occurring within the county, Giaquinto said.

      The prosecutor’s office was awarded $433,000 in grant money from the state Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor to establish the new unit and fully fund its operations for two years.

      “We appreciate being awarded the grant and will work closely with the state Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor,” Giaquinto said.

      Today, three men were indicted by a grand jury on charges related to an alleged insurance fraud against a motor vehicle insurance company.

      “This case is the perfect example of what we are trying to accomplish by the award of the grant to Mercer County,” Neafsey said.

      Joseph Manlio (DOB 7/11/72) of East Windsor; Thomas Mosca (DOB 3/16/61) of Columbus, N.J.; and Craig Wheelock (DOB 2/26/71) of the Yardville section of Hamilton, were each indicted on third-degree charges of conspiracy to commit theft by deception.

      It is alleged that on July 12, 1998, Manlio drove his 1996 Ford pickup to Bordentown Township where he met with Mosca to devise a plan to dispose of the truck to receive for the insurance money.

      That same day, Manlio allegedly turned the pickup over to Wheelock who ultimately drove the vehicle into a tributary of the Delaware River.

      Manlio alleged to the East Windsor Police Department that the truck had been stolen. A few days later, he sought payment for its loss from his insurance company, Liberty Mutual Insurance Group.

      If convicted, each man faces a maximum five years in prison for each of the two charges.

      The indictments follow the conclusion of a multi-agency investigation conducted by the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, Detective Kenneth Supple of the East Windsor Police Department and Investigator Barbara Estel of the Liberty Mutual Insurance Group.