Pa. Woman Pleads Guilty to Insurance Fraud

New Jersey Attorney General Peter Harvey announced that a Pennsylvania woman has pleaded guilty to theft by deception for collecting disability insurance payments while employed at a Middlesex County doctor’s office.

According to Vaughn McKoy, director, Division of Criminal Justice and Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden Brown, Suzanne Shenk, 31, of Pocono Summit, Pa., pleaded guilty before Passaic County Superior Court Judge Marilyn Clark to one count of theft by deception (3rd degree). The count is contained in a Passaic County Grand Jury indictment filed by the Division of Criminal Justice – Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor. The indictment was handed up on Oct. 30, 2003. When sentenced on March 12, Shenk faces up to three years in state prison and a fine of up to $15,000.

At the guilty plea, Shenk reportedly admitted that between Feb. 1 and May 14, 2002, she fraudulently collected more than $1,200 in disability insurance payments from the Aetna Insurance Company by concealing the fact that she was not disabled while employed during the claim period. The investigation determined that Shenk was employed at a South Plainfield physician’s office. The indictment alleges that Shenk forged one letter and falsified another in support of the disability claims filed with Aetna Insurance.