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April 13, 2010

Office of The Attorney General - Paula T. Dow, Attorney General Division of Criminal Justice - Stephen J. Taylor, Director Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor - Riza Dagli, Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor

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New York City Insurance Agent Pleads Guilty to Fraud Involving Applications for Multi-Million Dollar Life Insurance Policies

TRENTON - Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor announced that a New York City insurance agent has pleaded guilty to attempting to defraud two insurance companies in a life insurance scheme.

According to Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Riza Dagli, Pape Michael Seck, 39, of New York, N.Y., pleaded guilty yesterday to an accusation charging him with two counts of second-degree insurance fraud before Superior Court Judge Joseph V. Isabella in Hudson County. Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend that he be sentenced to three years in state prison. Seck also must forfeit his license as an insurance agent in New Jersey and pay a $10,000 civil insurance fraud fine.

In pleading guilty, Seck, an insurance agent, admitted that between May 22, 2008 and July 27, 2009, he submitted false applications to Prudential Life Insurance Company and Aviva Life Insurance Company for life insurance policies on behalf of Mansour Seck, listing Pape Seck as Mansour Seck’s son and the beneficiary under the policies. He admitted that his father, whose name is Mansour Seck, did not apply for the life insurance, nor did anyone by that name.

Deputy Chief Counsel Norma R. Evans took the guilty plea for the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor. Judge Isabella scheduled sentencing for June 7.

The investigation by the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor revealed that the defendant, acting as an insurance agent, applied for life insurance policies from the two companies in the amount of $7 million each. Although Mansour Seck is the name of his father, the defendant, in filing the applications, also used identifying information, including a Social Security number, from two other real people named Mansour Seck, one a retired dignitary from Senegal in Africa and the other a New Jersey resident. Mansour Seck is a common name in the country of Senegal. Neither insurance company issued a policy.

Pape Seck admitted that the following documents, all of which were false, were filed to fraudulently support the life insurance applications:

The accusation to which Seck pleaded guilty was filed by the Division of Criminal Justice’s Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor, which investigates and prosecutes both civil and criminal insurance fraud related cases.

The Department of Banking and Insurance routinely assists the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor with the investigation and prosecution of licensed insurance agents. This assistance enables the State to coordinate criminal investigations and prosecutions with any imposition of licensing sanctions in order to protect the public.

Detective L. Cross, Civil Investigator James Stavola, Deputy Attorney General Nicole Rizzolo and Deputy Chief Counsel Norma R. Evans were assigned to the investigation into this case. Acting Prosecutor Dagli thanked the Prudential Life Insurance Company, the Aviva Life Insurance Company, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Investigator Linda Gleghorn from the Department of Banking and Insurance for their assistance in the investigation.

“It is particularly troubling when licensed insurance agents engage in fraud,” said Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Riza Dagli. “The public places a great deal of trust in licensed insurance agents and expects them to adhere to high ethical standards. My office will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute cases of this type.”

Acting Fraud Prosecutor Dagli noted that some important cases have started with anonymous tips. People who are concerned about insurance cheating and have information about a fraud can report it anonymously by calling the toll-free hotline 1-877-55-FRAUD or visiting the Web site www.njinsurancefraud.org. State regulations permit an award to be paid to an eligible person who provides information that leads to an arrest, prosecution and conviction for insurance fraud.

The Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor was established by the Automobile Insurance Cost Reduction Act of 1998. The office is the centralized state agency that investigates and prosecutes both civil and criminal insurance fraud, as well as Medicaid fraud.

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