The charges were laid in the midst of a larger probe of the sector within the state.
Prosecutors in New Jersey have just revealed the latest insurance news, which includes their performance of an investigation into public adjustors, as a part of a probe that seeks evidence of fraud.
As a part of these headlines, a man from Monmouth County has received fraud charges.
The charges in this insurance news include an attempt to use a phony claim to receive payments from the New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Co. The public adjuster, Joseph Shammah from Long Branch, received his indictment by grand jury on Thursday. He was charged with several different crimes.
According to an insurance news release, the charges were for fraud as well as a number of other crimes.
That insurance news release was issued by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office. The charges against Shammah were the result of an ongoing undercover sting operation that was run last year by the state insurance prosecutor. The operation was nicknamed “Operation Home Makeover” and was created to help to expose the fraud that was occurring within the state through public adjustors.
These New Jersey licensed professionals are the individuals hired by consumers such as homeowners in order to obtain assistance in the negotiation of better settlements when they make claims on their policies. The adjustors are generally paid a percentage of the total settlement – usually in around 10 percent – that is received by the policyholder.
The state’s insurance news release showed that Shammah had visited one of the sting homes and made a number of false statements about the cause of the damages. This was done in order to be able to collect over $15,000 from New Jersey Manufacturers. The operation’s detectives also recorded Shammah saying that he was aware of the fact that he was making fraudulent claims, and that due to the nature of the property damage, he would not be entitled to recover money from the insurer.
A New Jersey Manufacturers spokesperson, Pat Breslin, made an insurance news statement in which he said that the company “applauds” the efforts of the prosecutors in this case.
