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

JANUARY 31, 2003

TRENTON - Attorney General David Samson announced that a Camden woman was sentenced today for submitting more than $47,000 in fraudulent injury claims to an insurance company as part of a phony accident scheme.

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, was sentenced to two years probation, ordered to pay restitution to General Accident Insurance Company in the amount of $10,634 and also ordered to perform 100 hours of community service. Blakney was sentenced by Judge John McNeill, III of the Superior Court in Camden. Blakney is the latest of several women who were charged and sentenced for their roles in the same insurance fraud scheme.

Blakney was sentenced pursuant to her guilty plea to an Accusation which charged her with one count of (3rd degree) theft by deception.

At her guilty plea hearing on December 4, 2002, before Camden Superior Court Judge John McNeill, III, 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 Blakney 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 sentencing 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 emphasized that individuals can make a difference. "We need people's information, not their identities. People who are concerned about insurance cheating and have any information about a fraud can call our toll-free hotline at 1-877-55-FRAUD, or visit our 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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