N.J. Man Pleads Guilty in ‘Give-Up’ Scheme

New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice Director Vaughn McKoy announced that a Middlesex County man has been order to pay more than $25,000 in restitution and fines after pleading guilty to participating in an insurance fraud “give-up” scheme.

According to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden Brown, Larnardo (Larry) R. Pittman, 39, of South Plainfield, Middlesex County, was sentenced by Somerset County Superior Court Judge Paul Armstrong to serve 277 days in the Somerset County Jail (credit for time served) and ordered to pay $19,000 in restitution and a $5,000 civil insurance fraud fine pursuant to the Insurance Fraud Prevention Act.

Brown said that Pittman pleaded guilty before Judge Armstrong on Feb. 22 to a charge of theft by deception. Pittman had been indicted by a State Grand Jury on April 29, 2004.

In pleading guilty, Pittman reportedly admitted that he reported his 2000 Ford F-350 pick-up truck stolen to the Newark Police Department on June 9, 2002. Pittman also reported the purported theft to The Zurich North American Insurance Company, the owner of Empire Insurance Company. Empire processed the claim and paid approximately $29,000 to Pittman based on the theft claim.

The Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor’s investigation determined that Pittman’s report that the truck had been stolen on June 9, 2002 in Newark was false.