Police Officer Charged with Multiple Felony Counts of Insurance Fraud, Including Falsely Reporting His Mercedes-Benz Stolen To Avoid Lease Payments;
Car Found Burned Hours After “Theft”
Schneiderman: There Must Be One Set of Rules For Everyone, Particularly Those Sworn To Uphold the Law
NEW YORK – Attorney General Eric Schneiderman today announced the arrest and indictment of Jose E. Urena, a New York City police officer assigned to the NYPD’s 25th Precinct, for an alleged scheme to defraud insurance companies. Officer Urena is accused of making a series of fraudulent automobile insurance claims designed to free himself from financial responsibility for high-end vehicles he couldn’t afford, to pocket insurance money for personal use, to pay for repairs of pre-existing damage and to add expensive features to various vehicles. If convicted, he faces up to seven years in prison.
The indictment, filed today in New York County Supreme Court, accuses Officer Urena of submitting four fraudulent auto insurance claims in two years:
- A May 2012 fraudulent vandalism claim for a 2009 Mercedes-Benz ML350;
- A January 2013 fraudulent theft claim for the same 2009 Mercedes-Benz ML350;
- A March 2013 fraudulent accident claim for a 2007 Mercedes-Benz S550; and
- A July 2014 fraudulent accident claim for a 2011 Dodge Charger.
“Today’s arrest sends a clear message: there must be one set of rules for everyone, particularly those sworn to uphold the law,” said Attorney General Schneiderman. “Gaming the system, whether to steal money or to avoid financial responsibility, is both unethical and illegal.”
According to the indictment and statements made by prosecutors at arraignment, in May 2012, Officer Urena falsely reported a claim to Nationwide Insurance Company that his leased 2009 Mercedes-Benz ML350 had been vandalized. After Nationwide paid $9,289.39 for the vandalism claim, Urena allegedly used the money to repair pre-existing damage to the car.
In January 2013, Officer Urena filed another fraudulent claim for the same Mercedes-Benz, according to today’s allegations. Just one day before his lease on the Mercedes was due to expire, when the car was almost $2,000 over the allowable mileage limit, and one week after cashing a $6,242.03 insurance check for repairs that were never made, Urena reported the car stolen. Just hours after the alleged theft took place, the Mercedes was found burned out in a warehouse district in the Bronx.
Just two months later, in March 2013, Urena was having trouble making payments on a financed 2007 Mercedes Benz S550. To free himself from financial responsibility for that car, Urena allegedly staged an accident by rear-ending a U-Haul truck, after which his insurance company, GEICO, wrote off the Mercedes as a total loss.
Urena’s fourth false claim occurred in July 2014, when he submitted a claim to GEICO after his 2011 Dodge Charger was involved in an accident. Urena inflated the amount of the claim to cover the cost of repairing pre-existing damage to the car and to make cosmetic improvements, according to documents made public in court today. Urena used the part of the resulting $7,503.97 insurance payout to add features to the car including a new grille, expensive tires and a painted roof.
Urena was arrested today by investigators from the Attorney General’s Office and officers from the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau. The 11-count indictment charges Insurance Fraud, Grand Larceny, Attempted Grand Larceny, Scheme to Defraud, Criminal Mischief and Falsifying Business Records, all of which are felonies. He was arraigned this morning in New York County Supreme Court before the Honorable Neil Ross.
The charges against the defendant are allegations and he is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
The Attorney General's Office thanks the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau, the National Insurance Crime Bureau, Nationwide Insurance Company, GEICO Insurance Company, Mercedes Benz, and the New York State Department of Financial Services for their valuable assistance in this case.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Chin-Ho Cheng and Senior Investigative Counsel Nina Sas with the assistance of Supervising Legal Analyst Paul Strocko and Legal Analyst Aislinn Appleby of the Criminal Enforcement and Financial Crimes Bureau’s Auto Insurance Fraud Unit. The Criminal Enforcement and Financial Crimes Bureau is led by Bureau Chief Gary T. Fishman and Deputy Bureau Chief Stephanie Swenton. The Attorney General's Criminal Justice Division is led by Executive Deputy Attorney General Kelly Donovan.
The investigation was handled by Investigators Kevin McCann and Adrian Klapper, Supervising Investigators Natalie Shifrin and Edward Keegan and Deputy Chief of Investigations Leonard D’Alessandro of the Auto Insurance Fraud Unit. The Investigations Division is led by Chief Dominick Zarrella.