Office of the Attorney General: Union County Man Pleads Guilty to Fraudulently Collecting More Than $24,000 in Disability Insurance Monies

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

July 15, 2008

Contact: Division of Criminal Justice
609-292-4791


TRENTON - Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal Justice Director Deborah Gramiccioni announced that a Union County man has pleaded guilty to fraudulently depositing or cashing approximately $24,000 in disability checks made payable to a family member after she had died.

According to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden Brown, Darin L. Still, 39, of Rahway, pleaded guilty yesterday before Superior Court Judge Stuart Peim in Union County to third-degree theft by deception. The charge was contained in an April 11 Union County grand jury indictment.

Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend a sentence of probation conditioned on Still serving 364 days in the county jail. Still is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 5. He also may face civil insurance fraud fines.

Still admitted that between June 25, 2003, and Nov. 3, 2005, he falsely cashed or deposited disability insurance claim checks made payable to another person. The investigation determined that Still’s aunt received disability checks from Unum Provident Life and Casualty Insurance Company pursuant to a disability claim she had made. Still admitted that, after the woman died in May 2003, he failed to notify Unum of the death, and then fraudulently cashed or deposited 30 disability checks, each worth approximately $821, payable to the aunt. As a result, Still allegedly collected approximately $24,630 in claims to which he was not entitled.

Detective Abraham Aquino, Civil Investigator Kenneth Frazee, and Deputy Attorney General James F. Flanagan were assigned to the investigation into this case. Flanagan represented the state at the guilty plea hearing.

This case was referred to OIFP by the Special Investigative Unit of Unum Provident Insurance Company, formerly known as the Provident Life and Casualty Insurance Company, which initially uncovered the fraud and assisted OIFP in the investigation. Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Brown thanked Unum Provident for its assistance in this matter.