N.J. Couple Sentenced as Part of $500,000 Fraud Scam

New Jersey Attorney General Peter Harvey announced that a Camden County husband and wife charged as part of a multiple-defendant insurance fraud scam have been ordered to repay an insurance company more than $25,000 for their reported role in a wide-ranging auto insurance fraud theft scheme concocted by a former insurance company employee.

According to Vaughn McKoy, Director, Division of Criminal Justice and Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden Brown, Lisa Givens, 38, of Camden County and George Givens (husband), 37, also of Camden County, were each sentenced by Burlington County Superior Court Judge Marvin Schlosser to three years probation and ordered to pay a combined $25,972 in restitution to the Allstate Insurance Company. Specifically, Lisa Givens was ordered by the Court to pay $11,298 in restitution and a $15,000 insurance fraud penalty, while George Givens was ordered to pay $14,674 in restitution and a $15,000 civil penalty.

Gooden Brown noted that the Givens’ pleaded guilty on March 26 to separate criminal Accusations which charged them with conspiracy. Also pleading guilty were co-conspirators Bruce Alston, 49, of Burlington County and Michael McCormick, 42, of Camden County. Alston plead guilty on March 26, while McCormick plead guilty on March 28. McCormick was sentenced on Sept. 12 to two years probation and ordered to pay $11,342 in restitution. Alston was sentenced on Oct 27 to three years probation and ordered to pay $8,825 in restitution. Also pleading guilty to conspiracy charges were Neville L. Holder, 62, and his son Neville Louis Holder, both of Cherry Hill, Camden County. The Holders were admitted into the Pre-Trial Intervention Program on May 19. Neville L. Holder was ordered to pay $1,646 in restitution, while Neville Louis Holder was ordered to pay $6,354 restitution. All of the defendants appeared before Judge Schlosser in Burlington County Superior Court.

In pleading guilty, each of the defendants reportedly admitted that between July, 1995 and September, 1998, they illegally accepted auto insurance claim checks in various amounts knowing that they were not entitled to the monies.

It is alleged that the claim checks were fraudulently issued by Linda Clements-Wright, a former Allstate Insurance Company Claims Process Specialist who worked out of the Allstate Market Claims offices located in Mt. Laurel and Moorestown. Clements-Wright, 42, of Camden County, was charged via a State Grand Jury indictment returned on May 22 with conspiracy, theft by unlawful taking and money laundering.

The indictment charged Clements-Wright as the central defendant in a $500,000 insurance theft scheme in which she (Clements-Wright) allegedly obtained insurance claim checks in various amounts by entering fraudulent information into a claims computer which, based on the fictitious claims information, generated invoices for payment of Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and other insurance claims. The indictment alleged that Clements-Wright enlisted the six co-defendants to cash the fraudulent checks. The co-defendants would reportedly keep 10 percent of the stolen monies with 90 percent of the proceeds returned to Clements-Wright. The amounts of the thefts were: Neville Louis Holder – $1,998; Michael McCormick – $10,078; Neville L. Holder – $1,646; Lisa Givens – $8,387; George Givens – $7,129; and Bruce Alston – $8,387.

The investigation by the Division of Criminal Justice – Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor determined that the Clements-Wright scheme resulted in the issuance of up to 146 fraudulent claims checks totaling $554,941. Clements-Wright is pending trial in Burlington County Superior Court.

The investigation remains ongoing with additional arrests and charges anticipated.