Bergen County Man Sentenced for Illegally Collecting
Employment-Related Medical Benefits

TRENTON - Attorney General Zulima V. Farber and Division of Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw announced that a Bergen County man has been sentenced for fraudulently obtaining more than $5,800 in employer-paid medical benefits.

According to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden Brown, Thomas J. Lagno, 42, of River Vale, Bergen County, was sentenced today to three years probation and ordered by Bergen County Superior Court Judge Harry Carroll to pay $5,893 in restitution. Lagno also must pay a $5,000 civil fine. The sentence followed Lagno’s April 6 guilty plea to a criminal accusation that charged him with health care claims fraud.

At the guilty plea hearing before Judge Carroll, Lagno admitted that from Feb. 29 to Aug. 30, 2004, he submitted more than a dozen fraudulent prescription drug and medical treatment claims to the Selective Insurance Company. The claims indicated that Lagno had sustained work-related injuries while employed at Access Systems Integration Company, headquartered in Hazlet, Monmouth County. The investigation determined that Lagno’s employment ended in September 2002, and that he was not eligible for employer-paid prescription drug coverage or medical benefits. As a result of the scam, Lagno fraudulently obtained more than $5,800 in medical services to which he was not entitled.

State Investigator Daniel Cokelet, Civil Investigator Jerry Pizzillo, and Deputy Attorney General Leo P. Cox were assigned to the investigation.

Additional information and a copy of this release are available via the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Web site at www.NJInsuranceFraud.org.