TRENTON
- Attorney General Peter C. Harvey announced
that the last of five South Jersey/Philadelphia-area
women indicted by the Division of Criminal
Justice - Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
has been sentenced in Burlington County
Superior Court for her participation in
a staged automobile accident scam which
netted the defendants more than $31,000
in illegally obtained insurance money.
According to Vaughn L. McKoy, Director,
Division of Criminal Justice and Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden-Brown, Pauline
Whitfield, 65, Fairmont Avenue, Phila.,
PA, was sentenced on Dec. 19 by Burlington
County Superior Court Judge John A. Almeida
to 364 days in the Burlington County Jail,
five years probation, and ordered to pay
$5,913 in restitution to the State Farm
Insurance Company. Whitfield was also
ordered to pay a $5,000 civil insurance
fraud fine pursuant to the Insurance Fraud
Prevention Act.
Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Gooden Brown
noted that Whitfield pleaded guilty on
Aug. 4 to an Accusation which charged
her with Health Care Claims Fraud and
impersonation. In pleading guilty, Whitfield
admitted that she was a passenger in a
vehicle involved in a staged accident
and, as part of the scheme, fraudulently
claimed to have been injured in the accident.
Whitfield submitted a $16,908 fraudulent
injury claim to the State Farm Insurance
Company. State Farm paid approximately
$5,900 on the fraudulent claim.
Prosecutor Gooden Brown said that Whitfield,
along with Deborah Thomas, 54, Denise
Gaines, 40, Patricia Oglesby, 52, all
of Philadelphia, and Robin Ellison, 43,
Willingboro, Burlington County; were indicted
by a State Grand Jury in May, 2002 and
charged with conspiracy, Health Care Claims
Fraud and theft by deception. To support
the false claims, each of the co-conspirators
reported that they had sustained various
injuries as a result of the purported
accident. Each of the co-conspirators
filed fraudulent Personal Injury Protection
(PIP) claims with the State Farm Insurance
Company for reimbursement for health care
services for non-existent injuries.
At separate guilty plea hearings before
Judge Almeida, Ellison and Thomas admitted
their roles in the conspiracy to report
a non-existent accident to police and
to attempt to collect insurance monies.
Ellison admitted that on April 10, 1998
she was the driver of a vehicle when she
and the co-conspirators (Thomas, Gaines
and Oglesby) concocted a story to falsely
claim that they had been involved in an
automobile collision while driving in
the Philadelphia area. Ellison reported
the non-existent accident to the Philadelphia
Police Department and to the State Farm
Insurance Company. Gaines and Oglesby
subsequently pleaded guilty to charges
of submitting false insurance claims and
theft by deception.
As a result of the fraud, State Farm paid
more than $31,000 in property damage and
PIP claims to various medical service
providers. Ellison obtained an automobile
property damage claim in the amount of
$6,961 for purported damage to her car
and $9,780 for medical treatments. Gaines
received $7,560 in PIP claims for medical
treatments. Oglesby received $2,011 in
PIP claims for medical treatments, while
Thomas was paid $4,757 in PIP claims for
medical treatments.
Ellison was sentenced to three years in
state prison, ordered to pay $16,741 restitution
to the State Farm Insurance Company and
to pay a $5,000 civil insurance fraud
fine. Thomas was sentenced to 180 days
in the Burlington County Jail, five years
probation, and ordered to pay $7,560 in
restitution and a $2,500 civil insurance
fraud fine. Gaines was sentenced to 180
days in the Burlington County jail and
three years probation. Oglesby was sentenced
to 180 days in the Burlington County jail
and five years probation.
The investigation was conducted by the
Division of Criminal Justice - Office
of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor. State Investigator
George Meyers, Civil Investigator Frank
Crosson and Supervising Deputy Attorney
General Norma Evans coordinated the investigation.
SDAG Evans prosecuted the case.
“The
actions of these five women to devise
and implement an elaborate hoax to defraud
an insurance company demonstrates the
lengths to which people are willing to
commit insurance fraud,” said Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor Gooden Brown. “It
is unfortunate that these women were willing
to concoct a lie in order to collect insurance
money. The Office of the Insurance Fraud
Prosecutor will vigorously investigate
and prosecute this type of crime to the
fullest extent of the law.”
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 80 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
.
