Car Insurance Scam

BY MARYANN SPOTO
Star-Ledger Staff

A Monmouth County grand jury has indicted 16 people on charges they participated in a classic-car financing scam to bilk car insurance companies out of nearly $583,000, authorities said yesterday.

The alleged participants used vehicle identification numbers from nearly junk cars, insured them as classic cars at inflated values, and then planned to report them stolen and share in the insurance proceeds, Monmouth County Prosecutor Luis Valentin said.

One of the suspects actually collected on a claim, getting a check for $39,000 from an insurance company for a car that was worth a couple thousand dollars at the most, the prosecutor said.

Valentin identified the main scam artist as Paul J. Brennan, 43, of Manasquan, who worked at two used-car dealerships in Point Pleasant through which he allegedly made the financing deals.

The prosecutor said Brennan used vehicle identification numbers from shells of cars that belonged to unsuspecting owners and used that information to make lease agreements at inflated prices.

"Each person would report (them) stolen, and the proceeds would be shared by and among the co-conspirators," Valentin said.

He said the actual value of the vehicles ranged from $100 to several thousand dollars, but they were inflated to values of between $20,000 and $75,000. In all, the fraudulent leases totaled $582,913, he said.

An investigation started in October 2002, when a representative from a local auto leasing company with offices in Marlboro reported to township police that 11 leases written by Brennan appeared to be fake, the prosecutor said.

As the probe widened, Marlboro detectives and investigators from the prosecutor's special prosecutions unit learned the leases were generated through Wheels of Time and Shore Classics car dealerships in Point Pleasant, where Brennan worked, Valentin said.

The indictment, returned June 5, charged the following people in addition to Brennan with theft by deception and conspiracy to commit theft by deception: Brennan's brother, Anthony Brennan, 48, of Elizabeth; Daryl Colatrella, 33, and his brother, John Colatrella, 43, both of Wall; Gregory Christon, 50, of Point Pleasant; Salvatore Badalmente, 35, formerly of Woodbury; John Gebala, 48, of Toms River; and John Catania, 39, formerly of Marlboro.

Also charged with theft by deception and conspiracy to commit theft by deception were Jennifer Gilarmo, 53, of Fort Lee; Jeffrey Rankin, 36, of Freehold; Luigi Carulli, 31, of North Plainfield; Tanya Banks, 40, of Roselle; Greg Matarazzo, 49, of Wall; Mounir Guiruis, 41, of Edison; Frank DiComo, 41, of Woodbridge; and Michael Calabrese, 56, of Toms River.

Paul Brennan was charged with 15 counts of theft by deception.

The conspiracy charge carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison; the theft by deception offense is punishable by up to five years' imprisonment.

All but one of the suspects has been arrested and posted bail, Valentin said.

Badalmente was found in Georgia, where authorities are making arrangements to serve him with the warrant. Catania was in Allenwood Federal Prison in Pennsylvania when authorities lodged the complaint, the prosecutor said.