“Officials: NJ Doctor Encouraged Patients To Stage Car Accidents” |
| Officials: NJ Doctor Encouraged Patients To Stage Car Accidents Posted: 22 Nov 2010 02:36 PM PST RAHWAY, NJ (WPIX) — The president of the Spinal Care & Rehabilitation Center in Rahway, NJ, faces 20 years in prison after he was caught convincing potential patients to stage minor auto accidents in order to collect insurance money.Roberto Castanon, 62, was arrested in November and pleaded guilty before District Judge William H. Walls to one count of conspiring to commit mail fraud. Prosecutors say Castanon and his co-conspirators gave people step-by-step instructions on how to become involved in a minor car accident, file a police report and fake their injuries. Most of the accidents took place in parking lots or at intersections. After being treated for their alleged injuries, Castanon would then bilk insurance companies for large sums, a portion of which would later be paid in cash to the patient. The insurance scheme took place from January 2003 to February 2007, and Castanon admitted before the judge that he had stolen more than $400,000 from auto insurance companies. According to prosecutors, the scheme was designed to take advantage of New Jersey's "no-fault" insurance system, where anyone who owns a car or truck registered in the state must buy insurance that covers personal injury. As with many insurance scams, Castanon was charged with mail fraud because his falsified claims were submitted via mail. Also charged with mail fraud were two people who staged accidents for Castano -- Heriberto Santiago-Jimenez and Ramon Breton Cabrera. Cabrera faces 26 months in prison and $197, 738.43 in restitution, while Santiago-Jimenez faces 18 months in prison and $71,979.98 in restitution. No sentencing date was given, but Castanon reportedly faces a maximum 20 years in prison, as well as an additional $250,000 fine plus all restitution costs. Further information on the identity of his co-conspirators has not yet been released. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Content Keyword RSS To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 comments:
Post a Comment