May 24, 2011
Office of The Attorney General
– Paula T. Dow, Attorney General
Division of Criminal Justice
– Stephen J. Taylor, Director
Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
– Ronald Chillemi, Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
Media Inquiries-
609-292-4791
Citizen Inquiries-
609-292-4925
Former Hudson County Insurance Producer Pleads Guilty to Theft of Premiums
TRENTON Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor announced that a former Hudson County insurance producer has pleaded guilty to a theft charge for failing to remit insurance premiums to insurance carriers.
According to Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Ronald Chillemi, Jose D. Uribe, 44, of Union City, pleaded guilty yesterday before Superior Court Judge Paul M. DePascale in Hudson County to a criminal accusation which charged him with third-degree theft by deception.
Judge DePascale scheduled sentencing for July 8. Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend that Uribe be sentenced to 180 days in county jail. Uribe will also be ordered to pay $76,819.03 in restitution. On March 31, 2011, the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance revoked the insurance producer licenses of Uribe and his company and ordered him to pay $92,500 in fines.
At the guilty plea hearing, Uribe, a former insurance producer for the now defunct Inter America Insurance Agency, LLC, admitted that between May 30, 2003 and Feb. 22, 2010, he obtained $76,819 in insurance premiums from seven clients by creating the false impression that he was remitting the monies to insurance carriers to secure commercial automobile insurance. In reality, he did not remit the premium payments to the insurance carriers.
Also yesterday, Uribe pleaded guilty to an accusation filed by the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office which charged him with third-degree insurance fraud.
Detective Earl Washington and Deputy Attorney General Nicole D. Rizzolo were assigned to the investigation. Rizzolo represented the state at the guilty plea hearing. Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Chillemi thanked Detective Sgt. Mary Reinke and Assistant Prosecutor Michael Zevits of the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, Deputy Attorney General William Puskas of the Department of Law and Public Safety’s Division of Law, and Investigator Daxesh "Anil" Patel of the Department of Banking and Insurance for their assistance in the investigation.
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