TRENTON
- Attorney General Peter C. Harvey announced
that a Mercer County woman charged earlier
this year with masterminding a sophisticated
"staged" automobile accident
ring which operated in the Camden County
area has been sentenced to five years
in state prison for planning and/or participating
in dozens of fake automobile accidents
which netted more than $500,000 in bogus
insurance claims.
"Fraudulent
schemes such as ‘staging' fake automobile
accidents to claim insurance money is
nothing less than corruption fueled by
greed. A five-year term in state prison
sends a real message that insurance fraud
is a real crime that will result in a
real sentence," said Attorney General
Harvey. "The Division of Criminal
Justice and the Office of Insurance Fraud
Prosecutor is taking direct aim at such
corrupt schemes and will investigate,
arrest and prosecute anyone involved in
insurance fraud."
According to Vaughn L. McKoy, Director,
Division of Criminal Justice and Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden-Brown, Iris
Salkauski, 46, Hamilton Avenue, Trenton,
Mercer County, was sentenced in Camden
County Superior Court to five years in
state prison and ordered to pay a $235,000
civil insurance fraud fine pursuant to
the Insurance Fraud Prevention Act. Salkauski's
bail was revoked and she was taken into
custody to begin serving the five-year
state prison term.
Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Gooden Brown
noted that Salkauski, along with 48 other
individuals, were charged on Jan. 13 by
the State Grand Jury with conspiracy,
theft by deception and attempted theft
by deception. The ten indictments charged
that over a two and one-half year period
from Dec. 9, 1996 through May 27, 1998,
the defendants participated in the "staged"
automobile accident ring by posing as
injured "victims" and by submitting
fraudulent insurance claims to several
insurance companies, including the Allstate
Insurance Company. The staged accidents
took place primarily in the Camden County
area -- most frequently in Camden and
Pennsauken.
In pleading guilty before Camden County
Superior Court Judge David G. Eynon on
Sept. 8, Salkauski admitted that she orchestrated
the "staged" accidents; recruited
the participants or "victims"
for each of the "staged" accidents;
paid the "victims" for their
participation in the "staged"
accidents and directed the "injured
victims" on how and where to obtain
medical care and legal services.
Gooden Brown said that co-defendant Miguel
Roman, 58, Hamilton Avenue, Trenton, (identified
as Salkauski's husband) was also sentenced
by Judge Eynon to three years probation,
150 hours of community service and ordered
to pay a $1,500 civil insurance fraud
penalty. Roman pled guilty to conspiracy,
admitting that on July 17, 1997, he was
the driver of a vehicle involved in a
staged accident in Camden.
The investigation by the Office of the
Insurance Fraud Prosecutor determined
that the defendants would "stage"
fake automobile accidents by purposely
crashing cars into one another or into
fixed objects. The motor vehicle accidents
would be reported to area police departments,
after which the "victims" would
seek and obtain treatment for purported
injures sustained as a result of the "staged"
accidents. At least one "staged"
accident involved undercover law enforcement
officers posing as one of the participants
of the illegal scheme. Ultimately, fraudulent
personal injury protection (PIP) claims
totaling $567,940 were submitted to the
Allstate Insurance Company for payment
or reimbursement of medical expenses and
pain and suffering costs.
Following the indictment, Salkauski fled
New Jersey and was listed as a Division
of Criminal Justice "12 Most Wanted
Fugitive." On March 5, Salkauski
was located and arrested inside a Kissimmee,
Osceloa County, Florida residence. Arresting
officers found Salkauski hiding in a bedroom
closet. The arrest was made without incident
and Salkauski was returned to New Jersey.
To date, 25 defendants have pled guilty
or have been ordered by the Court into
a pretrial intervention program on charges
related to the Salkauski "staged
accident" indictments. The defendants
have been sentenced to terms of incarceration
in state prison, probation, community
service and/or ordered to pay restitution
or civil insurance fraud penalties. Court
action remains pending against five defendants,
while 17 defendants have been listed as
fugitives and face arrest for failure
to appear at scheduled court proceedings.
The investigation was referred to the
Division of Criminal Justice - Office
of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor by the
Allstate Insurance Company and was coordinated
by Deputy Attorney's General Jacqueline
Smith and John Madden. State Investigators
Christian Harden, Allan Buecker and Stacie
Lick, along with Denise Banks of the IFD,
and Civil Insurance Fraud Investigator
Angelo Vastano, conducted the investigation.
The United States Postal Inspector's Office
participated in the investigation.
Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Gooden Brown
noted that the Office of Insurance Fraud
Prosecutor realized a 143 percent increase
in indictments; a 91 percent increase
in defendants charged; a 79 percent increase
in convictions (trial convictions and
guilty pleas); and a 60 percent increase
in civil sanctions in 2002. The Office
of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor charged
225 defendants in 2002, versus 118 defendants
in 2001. Additionally, the Office of Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor imposed sanctions in
3,723 civil fraud cases in 2002, compared
to 2,063 civil sanctions obtained in 2001.
The Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
collected $20.6 million in penalties in
2002, up from $15.8 million in 2001.
Noting that some important cases have
begun with anonymous tips from the public,
Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Gooden Brown
encouraged anyone with information about
insurance fraud to contact the Division
of Criminal Justice - Office of Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor's toll-free hotline at
1-877-55-FRAUD, or to visit the insurance
fraud web site at www.NJInsurancefraud.org
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