The three are accused of offering illegal insurance premium rebates
TRENTON -- A Monmouth County insurance agent and his parents have been accused of carrying out an elaborate scheme to bilk several insurance companies out of millions in commissions by promising unlawful free insurance, state Attorney General Christopher Porrino said Thursday.
Highlands resident Evan Pescatore, 35, and his parents Frank, 70, and Janice, 64, of Asbury, were charged with money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Evan Pescatore was also charged with an additional count of money laundering, and both he and his father have also been charged with insurance fraud, theft by deception, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and conspiracy to commit theft by deception.
Authorities say the three provided 18 free, high-value life-insurance policies, with a total value of $61.5 million, that were issued by eight insurance companies in a bid to receive hefty commissions.
State law prohibits the practice of "rebating," or paying premiums as an inducement for customers to sign up.
"Rebating fraud is a costly problem for insurance companies but the ultimate victim is the consumer. They're the ones who pay the price in the form of higher premiums," said Acting Insurance Fraud Investigator Christopher Iu. "These indictments should serve as a warning that we will not allow criminals to get rich by cheating the insurance system and driving up costs for honest policy holders."
Father and son allegedly recruited 13 applicants with the promise of free insurance while telling the insurance companies that no such rebates had been offered, authorities said. But Evan Pescatore allegedly borrowed money to pay for the premiums on the policies, which ranged from $15,000 to $582,000, authorities said.
Pescatore collected more than $3 million in commissions, according to authorities.
Paul Milo may be reached at pmilo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@PaulMilo2. Find NJ.com on Facebook.