TRENTON
- Criminal Justice Director Vaughn L.
McKoy announced that the Division of Criminal
Justice - Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
has obtained a State Grand Jury indictment
charging a Middlesex County businessman
with attempted theft and forgery for submitting
an inflated commercial property damage
claim to his insurance company.
According to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
Greta Gooden Brown, Spiros Martini, 54,
of Parker Court, South Amboy, Middlesex
County, was charged with attempted theft
by deception (3rd degree) and forgery
(4th degree). If convicted on both charges,
Martini faces up to six and a half years
in state prison and a criminal fine of
up to $25,000. Martini also faces the
possibility of the imposition of civil
insurance fraud fines. Martini will be
ordered to appear in Middlesex County
Superior Court for a bail and arraignment
hearing on a date yet to be determined.
The Oct. 19 indictment alleges that between
September 2002 and April 2003, Martini
falsified certain documents in order to
inflate a fire loss claim that he submitted
to Franklin Mutual Insurance Company for
a business property that he leased out
to tenants. On April 11, 2001, Martini’s
business property, which included a computer
business as well as a rubber business,
located at 3604 Rt. 35, South Amboy, was
damaged by a fire. Martini subsequently
submitted a $38,117 fire loss insurance
claim to Franklin Mutual Insurance Company.
An investigation by the Division of Criminal
Justice - Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
determined that, during the course of
adjusting the claim, Martini falsified
an amendment to a lease indicating that
he was due to be reimbursed property taxes
from tenants at the commercial site. It
is charged that in the initial commercial
lease of the property, signed by the tenants,
did not require the renters to pay for
property taxes. The investigation revealed
that Martini grafted the signatures of
the renters onto the amendment, so that
he could incorporate the tax money into
his claim. Mutual Insurance Company denied
the entire claim and referred the matter
to the Division of Criminal Justice.
State Investigator Earl Washington and
Deputy Attorney General Lewis J. Korngut
were assigned to the investigation. DAG
Korngut represented the Division of Criminal
Justice - Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
before the State Grand Jury.
“Far
too frequently, insurance companies refer
cases to this office for investigation
involving businessmen who fraudulently
pad commercial claims,” Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor Brown said. “This
conduct not only damages the business
reputation of persons who engage in it,
but, as in this case, frequently leads
to criminal prosecution. As is true in
health and auto insurance, there is too
much fraud in commercial insurance as
well.”
An indictment is merely an accusation.
The defendant is presumed innocent unless
and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable
doubt.
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