N.J. Businessman Charged with Theft of Surety Bond

Vaughn McKoy, director, Division of Criminal Justice, announced that New Jersey’s Division of Criminal Justice – Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor has charged a Morris County businessman with stealing a $6,000 surety bond which was required to insure a Bernards Township public park construction project. The result of the alleged theft left the municipality and the construction company without adequate insurance coverage.
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According to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden Brown, William Tompkins, 49, of Morris County, was charged via an Essex County Grand Jury indictment with theft by deception and theft of services (3rd degree). If convicted on both charges, Tompkins faces up to 10 years in state prison and a fine of up to $30,000. Tompkins also faces civil insurance fraud fines pursuant to the civil Insurance Fraud Prevention Act.

Gooden Brown said the indictment charges that Tompkins, the owner of DMT Consultants Inc., a surety company with offices in New York City, fraudulently obtained a surety insurance bond for Newark-based Monument Contractors, Inc. – a construction company contracted to build park pavilions in Harry Dunham Park in Bernards Township, Somerset County.

The indictment charges that in order to obtain the insurance bond for Monument, Tompkins fraudulently represented himself as a licensed insurance broker to Global Risk Management Services Inc., a retail surety bond agency licensed in New Jersey. It is further alleged that Tompkins overcharged Monument for the surety insurance bond, failed to remit the monies to the surety company, and converted the $6,000 payment for personal use.

Gooden Brown said, “Insurance fraud takes many forms. In this case, Bernards Township and its taxpayers could have been placed at risk because the defendant obtained a fraudulent bond. The Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor will investigate and prosecute insurance fraud no matter in what context it may be found.”