N.J. Adjuster Arrested on Theft Charges

New Jersey Acting Attorney General Peter Harvey announced the arrest of a Middlesex County insurance claims adjuster on criminal charges related to an alleged insurance fraud scam in which unsuspecting victims of automobile accidents and legitimate insurance claimants were “conned” into turning over a percentage of settlement claim monies to an allegedly corrupt claims adjuster.

According to Vaughn McKoy, First Deputy Director, Division of Criminal Justice and Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden Brown, the Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor and the Liberty Mutual Group initiated an investigation which targeted the suspicious activities of Oscar Medina of New Brunswick, a field claims adjuster employed at Liberty Mutual’s Somerset office. The investigation developed information that Medina allegedly would contact insurance claimants involved in automobile accidents and advise them that they would be able to retain a larger percentage of settlement monies by paying him a fee and not hiring an attorney.

As a result of information developed by state investigators assigned to the Division of Criminal Justice – Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor and security representatives from the Liberty Mutual Group, Medina was arrested and charged with theft by deception. Middlesex County Superior Court Judge Fred DeVesa set bail in the amount of $50,000 (10 percent). Medina will be required to appear in Middlesex County Superior Court for arraignment.

The arrest warrant alleges that Medina committed theft by deception by purposely obtaining the property of another in the amount of $5,500.00 by creating the false impression that as a Liberty Mutual Group claims adjuster that he (Medina) was entitled to 15 percent of the claimants bodily injury settlement money when, in fact, he (Medina) knew he was not entitled to the funds.