N.J. Insurance Fraud Prosecutor, Overseas Regulator Discuss Anti-Fraud Efforts

New Jersey’s Acting Attorney General John Hoffman announced that the South Korea’s insurance fraud regulator visited New Jersey Tuesday to learn about the successes of New Jersey’s Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor in overhauling its anti-fraud efforts, and to share information about the global issues concerning insurance fraud.

South Korea’s Insurance Fraud Regulator Daesung Hwang met with New Jersey’s Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Ronald Chillemi and members of his staff Tuesday.

Chillemi said the meeting provided New Jersey’s Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor the opportunity to highlight the work it has done over the past few years.

“These highlights include raising awareness about the consequences of committing insurance fraud, bringing bigger cases to the forefront and obtaining longer prison sentences for those who commit insurance fraud,” he said.

“I am pleased to have the chance to compare solutions to common problems and to learn from one another,” Hwang said. “I look forward to working together when appropriate in the future.”

Earlier this year, New Jersey’s Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor launched a multi-media advertising campaign to combat insurance fraud in New Jersey. The advertising campaign, which ran over the summer, reminded people that committing insurance fraud in New Jersey can — and will — lead to prison.

To date in 2013, the average prison sentence imposed on a defendant prosecuted by New Jersey’s Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor is approximately four and a half years. That figure is over 250 percent higher than the average prison sentence imposed in 2010.

In 2012, the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit’s False Claims Act (FCA) group recovered approximately $45 million in 2012 through twelve settlements in FCA cases.

The False Claims Act group, which falls within the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor, handles state FCA cases and participates in federal global cases through the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units (NAMFCU). These cases arise when a plaintiff claimant (known as a relator) alleges that an individual or corporate defendant knowingly has presented or caused to be presented a false claim to a State Medicaid program.

Chillemi reiterated the importance of the toll-free hotline to report insurance fraud. He noted that many important cases have started with anonymous tips. New Jersey residents who are concerned about insurance cheating and have information about a fraud can report it anonymously by calling the toll-free hotline at 1-877-55-FRAUD (1-877-553-7283) or by visiting the Web site at www.njinsurancefraud.org.

Topics Fraud New Jersey