12 Charged In $20M NJ Fraud Case In Warren, Sussex Counties

WARREN COUNTY, NJ — The uncovering of a $20 million insurance fraud scheme lead to the arrests of 12 people following a joint investigation by Warren and Sussex Counties.

"Operation Vacant Lot" was launched by Warren and Sussex Counties' Prosecutors’ Offices after New Jersey Automotive Insurance Plan representatives noticed an uptick in commercial trucking insurance applications indicating rigs were garaged at a particular Warren County location.

Warren County Prosecutor James L. Pfeiffer reported in a news release on Monday that during the investigation, an insurance fraud scheme was uncovered showing that $2.7 million was underpaid in insurance premiums for 2021 for these trucks, with an estimated $20 million underpaid in New Jersey since 2018.

Statewide, Pfeiffer added, it can run about $40,000 to insure a truck annually in New Jersey’s most expensive region, with Warren and Sussex the least costly of all 40 insurance regions.

In turn because of that fraud, he said consumers end up paying for it in the end. Insurance customers lose out to the tune of up to $40 billion each year. Per family, that calculates to about $700 annually, says Pfeiffer, with this case mainly impacting Sussex and Warren County residents in millions of dollars of upped premiums.

“I am extremely proud of the success of the joint Warren and Sussex Counties insurance fraud investigation,” said Pfeiffer, crediting the Morris County Sheriff’s Office, National Insurance Crime Bureau and the Mid-Atlantic Great Lakes Organized Crime Law Enforcement Network, with aiding in the case.

Pfeiffer said that in investigating the location in question, Phillipsburg and Easton Heavy Duty Truck Repair on Route 22 in Phillipsburg, about 170 trucking companies alleged that around 400 rigs in total were housed there, when in reality, this business could only keep about 30 onsite.

Investigators also discovered that vehicle owners were told they didn’t have to keep their trucks at the Phillipsburg facility.

Some other wrinkles to the case, which Pfeiffer explained, were:

• Agents between the haulers and insurance companies earned commissions for the applications they submitted.
• The Warren County company’s owner Hardeep “Ruben” Dhanjal took payments and confirmed to the insurance company that the trucks were parked there, submitting receipts to the insurer.
• Investigators found through their surveillance the vehicles Dhanjal claimed were parked, weren’t there, with some as far away as New York State and North Carolina.

In addition to Dhanjal, who is from Easton, Pennsylvania, Pfeiffer said the following people were charged in the case with racketeering, insurance fraud, theft by deception and misconduct by a corporate official:

• Gloria A. Beltran from Elizabeth
• Jenny Cayo from Fairview
• Anthony J. Debellis from Oakland
• Lazaro J. Liria from Fords
• Tatiana Navarro from Sayreville
• Denis R. Perez from Union
• Gabriel L. Ubides from Clark
• Alba R. Ruiz-Devllialobos from Union City
• Carmen E. Cajiliema-Simpson from Wayne
• Freddie Tabares from Scotch Plains
• David Trevieso from Rochelle Park

Each of the charges, Pfeiffer said, can carry up to a 10 year sentence in state prison.

Sussex County Prosecutor Francis Koch said he was honored that investigators from his office assisted with the effort.

“This investigation is proof that the collaboration of law enforcement agencies, regardless of county or jurisdictional lines, makes us a stronger and safer state,” Koch said.

Questions or comments about this story? Have a local news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com