| TRENTON - Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced that a former Newark police officer was sentenced today for falsely reporting to police that his vehicle had been stolen and fraudulently collecting $10,791 from the company that insured the vehicle.
Suliaman Kamara, 32, of Newark, a former Newark police officer, was sentenced to three years of probation by Superior Court Judge Julie Marino in Somerset County. Kamara pleaded guilty on May 17 to third-degree theft by deception. He forfeited his job as a Newark police officer and is permanently barred from employment as a law enforcement officer. He also was ordered to pay full restitution.
Deputy Attorneys General Cambridge Ryan and Veronica Allende handled the sentencing for the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau. Deputy Attorney General Allende prosecuted the case. Sgt. 1st Class Lisa King led the investigation for the State Police Official Corruption North Unit. Senior Special Investigator Charles Citera of Liberty Mutual Insurance Company's Special Investigative Unit provided valuable assistance.
Kamara filed a report with the Newark Police Department on Feb. 23, 2009, falsely stating that his 2003 GMC Yukon had been stolen. He subsequently filed a claim for the purported theft with Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, which paid him a total of $10,791, including $9,744 for the vehicle, $477 for property he reported stolen inside the vehicle, and $570 for a rental car. Nearly three years later, a representative of Liberty Mutual spotted the vehicle outside Kamara’s residence and alerted authorities. The State Police located the 2003 GMC Yukon, bearing a license plate from another vehicle, parked outside of Kamara’s residence on March 14, 2012, and executed a search warrant, confirming that it was the vehicle he reported stolen.
Kamara was a Newark Police Officer at the time he filed the false police report and insurance claim.
Kamara was sentenced to three months in federal prison on Aug. 12 in connection with his guilty plea to a federal charge, filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, that he conspired with a woman to fraudulently obtain more than $60,000 in benefits under the federal Section 8 public housing assistance program. The federal sentence also includes two years of supervised release. #### |
