Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
David Samson, Attorney General
Peter C. Harvey, Director, Division of Criminal Justice
Greta Gooden Brown, Insurance Fraud Prosecutor

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Paul Loriquet (609) 292-4791

DECEMBER 4, 2002

TRENTON - Attorney General David Samson announced that a Camden woman pleaded guilty today to a charge of theft by deception for her role in submitting more than $47,000 in fraudulent injury claims to an insurance company.

According to Peter C. Harvey, First Assistant Attorney General and Director of the Division of Criminal Justice, Yvonne Blakney, 23, of Canterbury Circle in Camden, pleaded guilty to an Accusation which charged her with one count of third-degree theft by deception. Blakney entered her guilty plea before Camden Superior Court Judge John McNeill, III. Last month, two other women, Lareen Blakney-Reed and Danielle Miller, were sentenced in connection with their roles in the same insurance fraud scheme. Theft by deception is a third degree crime that carries a sentence of up to five years imprisonment and a $15,000 fine. The defendant may also be required to pay restitution to the insurance company. Additionally, pursuant to New Jersey’s Insurance Fraud Prevention Act, Blakney may be assessed a civil insurance fraud fine. Blakney is scheduled to appear before Judge McNeill on January 31, 2003, to be sentenced.

At her guilty plea hearing, Blakney admitted that she fraudulently claimed to be a passenger in a purported automobile accident that was reported to the Camden Police Department on August 9, 1997. Blakney admitted that she submitted fraudulent PIP claims to General Accident Insurance and that she was not involved with nor injured in any automobile accident on August 9, 1997. As a result of the fraudulent PIP claims, however, General Accident Insurance paid $10,634 for medical services incurred by Blakney.

The Accusation to which the defendant pleaded guilty was filed by the Division of Criminal Justice’s Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor which investigates and prosecutes both civil and criminal insurance fraud related cases. State Investigators Christian Harden, Weldon Powell, Civil Investigator Robert Palentchar and Deputy Attorney General Peter Lee were assigned to the investigation into this case. DAG Lee represented the State at the guilty plea hearing.

"A false automobile accident claim requires that a person be willing to lie multiple times. They must lie to the police, the insurance carrier, their doctors, and their attorneys. They must fake injuries. It is this lengthy pattern of deception that makes these crimes so troubling," said Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden Brown. "This office will continue to aggressively investigate auto insurance fraud cases and to prosecute those who are inclined to steal from honest insurance policy holders."

Noting that some important cases have begun with anonymous tips from the public, Prosecutor Brown encouraged New Jersey residents concerned about insurance cheating and who have information about insurance fraud to contact the Division of Criminal Justice - Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor toll-free hotline at 1-877-55-FRAUD, or visit the insurance fraud web site at www.NJInsurancefraud.org.

Housed in the Department of Law and Public Safety’s Division of Criminal Justice and reporting to the Attorney General, the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor was established by the Automobile Insurance Cost Reduction Act of 1998 (AICRA). The Office is the centralized state agency that investigates and prosecutes both civil and criminal insurance fraud, as well as Medicaid fraud. Criminal convictions for insurance fraud can result in fines and imprisonment, while civil penalties can include substantial fines and referral for revocation or suspension of professional licenses.

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