Personal Injury News

Automobile Insurance Personal Injury Protection (Pip) Fraud 

TRENTON - Attorney General Zulima V. Farber and Division of Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw announced that a Passaic County woman has pleaded guilty to attempting to fraudulently collect more than $23,000 in automobile insurance Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits.

According to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden Brown, Virginia B. Kinion, 66, of Paterson, pleaded guilty before Passaic County Superior Court Judge Ernest M. Caposela to third-degree health care claims fraud. The charge was contained in a June 29, 2005 Passaic Grand Jury indictment. When sentenced on Aug. 18, Kinion faces up to five years in state prison and a criminal fine of up to $15,000. At the guilty plea, Kinion agreed to pay a $10,000 civil penalty.

Kinion’s husband, John Knight, 49, was also named in the indictment. Knight pleaded guilty on March 24 before Judge Caposela to fourth-degree falsifying records. He agreed to pay a $5,000 civil insurance fraud fine when sentenced on July 7, 2006.

At the April 13 guilty plea hearing, Kinion admitted that she submitted a false automobile insurance policy application and false PIP claims to the Clarendon National Insurance Company after being involved in an automobile accident. An investigation by the Division of Criminal Justice - Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor determined that, at the time of the accident, neither Kinion nor Knight had automobile insurance. Kinion acknowledged that she applied for and received automobile insurance issued by Clarendon National Insurance Company on June 7 - a day after the motor vehicle accident. The investigation further revealed that Kinion denied involvement in any accidents during the prior 36 months.

Upon receiving automobile insurance coverage, Kinion and Knight filed PIP health-care claims totaling more than $23,100 with the Clarendon National Insurance Co. Kinion admitted that on June 10, three days after the applying for insurance, she falsely reported to the Paterson Police Department that the accident occurred on June 7. The investigation determined that Kinion later returned to the Paterson Police Department to revise her report, adding that Knight was a passenger when, in fact, Knight was the driver at the time of the accident. Clarendon National Insurance denied both claims and referred the matter to the Division of Criminal Justice - Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor.

State Investigator Wendy Wylie, Civil Investigator Eileen Bellantine, and Deputy Attorney General Frank L. Holstein coordinated the investigation.

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	Did You Know?
	Tort lawyer is needed when civil wrongs are done Torts fall into three general categories: intentional torts (e.g., intentionally hitting a person); negligent torts (causing an accident by failing to obey traffic rules); and strict liability torts (e.g., liability for making and selling defective products). Intentional torts are those wrongs which the defendant knew or should have known would occur through their actions or inactions.