The Society of Investigators of Greater Newark was formed 1966 by a group of law enforcement and corporate security representatives from the Newark NJ area, and has since grown far beyond te Essex County area. Membership today is more than 325 strong, and includes local, county, state and federal law enforcement representatives from Bergen County to Monmouth County.  Agencies represented include the Division of Criminal Justice, Enforcement Bureau, Gaming and Wildlife, Gambling Commission, State Police, Office of Inspector General, Motor Vehicle Commission and Office of the Public Defender. On a Federal level, our membership consists of FBI, Secret Service, DHS, Postal Inspectors and ICE. In the corporate sector, SIGN’s members include investigators and attorneys from the auto insurance, health insurance, banking, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and trucking industries.

The other speakers at the event were Supervisory Special Agent Sean Keyes of the NK Squad C-12 (Health Care and Mortgage Fraud Squads) of the FBI’s Newark Field Office; Ron Chillemi, the Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor;  and Assistant Attorney General John Kennedy.

Founded in 1997 and partially funded by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the NJHCQI brings together all key stakeholders to make real and measureable improvements to our state’s health care system.  Its purpose is to “undertake projects that will ensure that quality, accountability and cost containment are closely linked to the delivery of health care services in New Jersey.”  These links are made by publishing the results of objective research, comparative data on providers and other pertinent educational information.   This allows purchasers and consumers to adopt value-based purchasing practices and make highly informed decisions, based on the merits of the various health care programs, treatments and services.

The awards luncheon followed the 7th Annual Future of the Ocean Symposium, at which Jean-Michel Cousteau gave the keynote:   The Sutainable Future: Preserve the Ocean, Protect Ourselves, which included clips from a soon-to-be-released documentary honoring the 100th Anniversary of the birth of his father, Jacques-Yves Cousteau.

Pringle served as the mayor of the Borough of Belmar from 1990 to 2010. During his tenure, Belmar established a natural beach area, which serves as a least tern nesting area, and worked with the local diving community to institute an annual underwater cleanup of the Shark River. In addition, Belmar was the first community in the state to label its storm drains with their destination body of water. Pringle led the effort to have Belmar’s Shark River receive the first in the state of New Jersey designation as a “Federal No Discharge Zone.”

In 2001, Belmar became the first municipality in the nation to restrict smoking on its beaches, an idea that was soon adopted by a series of California beach communities. Pringle was an advocate for federal beach nourishment funding and in 1997, Belmar was part of the largest beach nourishment project in U.S. history. In 1998, Pringle was invited ot testify before the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the United States Senate in support of the Water Resources Development Act of 1998, which contained important elements regarding federal funding for shore protection. He has received many awards and honors, including the Elected Leadership Award from the Jersey Shore Partnership in 2009.

Pringle has served as a member of the Urban Coast Institute Advisory Committee, since its inception in 2005.   The mission of the UCI is to serve the public interest as a forum for research, education, and collaboration that fosters the application of the best available science and policy to support healthy and productive coastal ecosystems and a sustainable and economically vibrant future for coastal communities.

The presentation outlined PIP fraud schemes that begin with the solicitation and recruitment of claimants immediately following an auto accident, and that rely upon kickbacks and other unlawful inducements to encourage the claimants’ referral from healthcare provider to healthcare provider, all the way to and including surgical and invasive pain management procedures in an Ambulatory Surgical Center or hospital setting.   Pringle coined the “Conveyor Belt” term to describe  the pattern of progression of treatment and procedures that PIP claimants undergo when they are recruited into a Conveyor Belt scheme.

The presentation was attended by approximately 100 people, including representatives of the NJ Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor, the NJ Department of Banking and Insurance, Bureau of Fraud Deterrence, county prosecutors and insurance company executives.

When the Mayor and Council did not withdraw their plan following the objections of dozens of residents at the scoping hearing and in written comments, O’Hara filed a motion on behalf of the citizens group to intervene in a pending prerogative writ action previously filed by the Borough of Spring Lake, whose Marucci Park adjoins the proposed location of the mammoth tower.   Both complaints challenge the zoning on multiple grounds, including that the Borough failed to provide proper notice as required by the Municipal Land Use Law, and that the ordinance constitutes improper spot zoning and financial zoning.

PQA attorneys had filed a motion with the Supreme Court on behalf of the Insurance Council of New Jersey (“ICNJ”) and the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (“PCI”) seeking leave to appear jointly as amicus curiae and submitted a brief on behalf of the insurance industry urging the Court to grant the petition for certification.  ICNJ is a nonprofit, insurance, research, information and advocacy organization representing twenty-two New Jersey licensed property casualty insurance companies that collectively write 93 percent of the automobile insurance policies in New Jersey. ICNJ member companies underwrote the great majority of the nearly $17 billion in direct premiums written in New Jersey in 2009. PCI is a trade group representing more than 1,000 property casualty insurance companies domiciled and transacting business throughout the United States.  Its member companies write nearly 49.5 percent of the nation’s auto insurance business.

PQA’s brief on behalf of ICNJ and PCI outlined the ways in which New Jersey automobile insurers’ long-standing ability to investigate personal injury protection (“PIP”) fraud schemes, including unlawful self-referral schemes, kickback arrangements, fee-splitting schemes, and unlawful practice structure schemes, would be crippled if the Appellate Division decision were allowed to stand.  In urging the Supreme Court to hear the appeal, PQA’s brief further explained why the unfortunate but inevitable effects of allowing the Appellate Division decision to stand would be an increase in insurance fraud and abuse, and rising premium costs that will be borne by New Jersey private passenger automobile policy holders .

ICNJ and PCI’s application and brief in support of the petition for certification was prepared and submitted by PQA attorneys Kenneth E. Pringle and Denise O’Hara of PQA’s Belmar office, and Lisa R. Levine, of PQA’s Trenton office.

The motion was decided on remand from the Appellate Division following an earlier 2006 decision in Allstate’s favor by a different Morris County Superior Court judge.  In addition to the judgment, the chiropractor will be required to pay additional damages in the amount of three times Allstate’s reasonably attorneys’ fees and costs.   Kenneth Pringle Esq., Kathleen Waldron, Esq. and Denise O’Hara Esq. litigated the case, which began in 2002.

The panel discussion will center on finding a path to a sustainable strategy for the industry in resisting insurance fraud. The panel will look at the challenges the industry faces with its current anti-fraud efforts and strategies, and discuss how the industry can best  overcome these challenges  over the next ten years.   Panel members include Dennis Jay, of the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud; Glenn Wolf, Manager of the Special Investigation Unit for the Liberty Mutual Insurance Company; and Ross Silverman, Esquire, a partner at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP of Chicago, IL.

The UFTA motion was successfully briefed and argued by PQA Associate Kathleen Waldron. Discovery in this litigation, which included a series of third-party subpoenas to obtain the bank accounts of the defendant and his mother, and the records of the mortgage lender and broker involved in the transaction, was handled by PQA Associate Denise O’Hara.