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TagsA Hoboken couple has been sentenced to one-year probation and ordered to pay $49,054 in restitution for stealing health care insurance benefits, Attorney General Anne Milgram announced Wednesday.
The two were identified by state Division of Criminal Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni as James P. O'Connor, 52, and his wife, Debbie M. O'Connor, 50. They were also ordered to pay a $2,500 civil insurance fraud fine in addition to paying restitution to a number of health insurance companies.
The O'Connor's had pleaded guilty in April before Superior Court Judge Michael L. Ravin in Jersey City to accusations which charged them each with theft by deception.
They admitted that they divorced in 2001, but failed to notify James O'Connor's employer, the Hoboken Board of Education, of the change in their marital status. The couple remarried in April 2007. During the six years that they were divorced, James O'Connor misrepresented the couple's marital status and obtained health care insurance coverage for and submitted $49,054 in fraudulent claims for Debbie O'Connor.
The O'Connors admitted that they caused the Oxford Insurance Company, the state Health Benefits Program, which is administered by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, the Hoboken Board of Education, whose benefits program is also administered by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, Delta Dental Insurance Company, Bollinger Insurance, and Maxor Pharmaceutical Services to pay the $49,054.72 for medical services.
Det. Thomas Ference, Civil Investigator Megan Flanagan and Deputy Attorney General Geraldine Zidow conducted the investigation and prosecution.
Milgram said people who are concerned about insurance cheating and have information about a fraud can report it anonymously by calling the toll-free hotline at 1-877-55-FRAUD, or visiting the Web site at www.NJInsurancefraud.org ." State regulations permit a reward to be paid to an eligible person who provides information that leads to an arrest, prosecution and conviction.
— TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM