Huntington Man Stole Identities To Defraud Insurance Firms: DA

A Huntington man was arrested on Monday for stealing the identities of his customers and using their names to illegally collect thousands of dollars of insurance policy charges over a 10 year span, according to Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas.

Sardar Nasarullah, 62, along with his Hicksville-based business, Commercial Business Insurance Brokerage Corp., were arraigned on Monday. They are charged with fraudulently obtaining corporate automobile insurance policies from companies, resulting in a loss of at least $40,000 to the insurers.

According to the DA, Nasarullah, a licensed insurance broker, and his business used stolen identities to defraud auto insurance companies from June 22, 2006 to March 4, 2016 by obtaining corporate policies instead of personal policies which carry higher rates and costs, the DA said. The policies were fraudulently obtained from multiple companies, including AutoOne Insurance, National Liability & Fire Insurance, Farm Family Casualty Insurance, Lincoln General Insurance, Progressive Northern Insurance and Merchants Mutual Insurance.

Officials say Nasarullah and his company submitted these fake policy applications to the auto insurance companies, naming the identity theft victims as the vehicle operators.

They also listed the identity of the theft victims, who were unaware their personal information was being used, as the president of the corporations they fraudulently created, the DA said. They allegedly perpetrated this scheme to obtain insurance for customers who could not otherwise afford it or to obtain lower rates for drivers.

“Sardar Nasarullah and his company are accused of stealing the identities of unsuspecting customers and racking up thousands of dollars of insurance policy charges in their name,” Singas said in a press release. “This case illustrates the importance of protecting sensitive personal information that could be used by thieves to commit identity theft and I encourage every Nassau resident to monitor their credit reports regularly to spot any suspicious activity.”

This case was referred to the DA in August 2016 following an investigation by New York Automobile Insurance Plan Special Investigations. Many of the identity theft victims may have provided personal information to Nasarullah at an insurance reduction course offered in Hicksville, officials say.

Nasarullah was charged with two counts of third-degree grand larceny, two counts of third-degree insurance fraud, five counts of first-degree identity theft, three counts of second-degree identity theft, four counts of first-degree falsifying business records and first-degree scheme to defraud.

Commercial Business Insurance Brokerage Corp. was charged with third-degree grand larceny, third-degree insurance fraud, five counts of first-degree identity theft, fourth-degree grand larceny, fourth-degree insurance fraud and three counts of second-degree identity theft.

Nasarullah faces a maximum sentence of 2 1/3 years to seven years in prison if convicted and the business faces a fine of up to $10,000 or double their gain from the alleged crimes.

Nasarullah and Commercial Business Insurance Brokerage Corp. are due back in court on Jan. 5.

Image via NCPD