NEWARK, NJ — Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor announced Jan. 4 that an insurance agent in Essex County was indicted on charges related to fraudulent insurance applications he allegedly submitted to four insurance companies to illegally obtain commissions.
Jean Estil, 37, of Newark, was charged with insurance fraud and theft by deception in the second degree; attempted theft by deception and impersonation in the third degree; and forgery in the fourth degree in an indictment handed up by a grand jury in Trenton on Dec. 22, 2022.
The charges stem from applications submitted to Columbian, Mutual of Omaha, Transamerica and Royal Neighbors of America between Oct. 1, 2019, and March 6, 2022. According to the charges, Estil fraudulently submitted applications to obtain or renew policies knowing they contained false information or omitted material facts so that he could obtain commissions. Estil also allegedly forged the names of individuals on eight insurance applications, obtained the personal identifying information of an individual and used it to represent himself as that person in a phone call with one of the insurance companies, and illegally obtained commissions from four insurance companies in the aggregate amount of $75,000 or more.
Second-degree charges carry a sentence of five to 10 years in state prison and a fine of up to $150,000; third-degree charges carry a sentence of three to five years in state prison and a fine of up to $15,000; and fourth-degree charges carry a sentence of up to 18 months in state prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
The charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless or until proved guilty in a court of law.
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