Englewood Public Adjuster Sentenced in $42K Scam

An Englewood public adjuster was sentenced Friday to 18 months probation for scamming clients and insurance companies out of more than $42,000 in insurance payments for work that was never completed, the state Attorney General's Office announced.  

Sheena Clarke, 59, must also pay $42,519 in restitution, perform 300 hours of community service and surrender her public adjuster's license, prosecutors said. She pleaded guilty in August to third-degree insurance fraud. 

Clarke admitted that between July 2005 and mid-August 2010 she submitted property damage claims to four insurance companies for work and repairs at properties in Paterson, Newark, Irvington and East Orange. The repairs, however, never happened. 

One of the bilked firms insured an Essex County church, prosecutors said. 

"The insurance companies to which the claims were submitted were the Philadelphia Contributorship Insurance Company, the Germantown Insurance Company, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, and Western World Insurance Company," according to attorney general's office. 

Clarke already paid a $5,125 civil penalty to the state's Department of Banking and Insurance before sentencing.

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