Former CEO of Hudson County Insurance Brokerage Firm Sentenced for Misappropriating Insurance Premiums

TRENTON, N.J., Sept. 17 -- The New Jersey Attorney General issued the following news release:

Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor announced that a Passaic County man was sentenced to state prison today for misappropriating more than $300,000 in insurance premiums.

According to Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Riza Dagli, Richard Pisacane, 65, of Wayne, was sentenced to five years in state prison by Superior Court Judge Lourdes I. Santiago in Hudson County. Pisacane was also ordered to pay $300,355 in restitution to Lincoln General Insurance Company. The sentence was based on Pisacane's Aug. 2 guilty plea to second-degree misapplication of entrusted property. The charge was contained in a Feb. 23, 2010 Hudson County grand jury indictment.

Pisacane was the CEO of the now-defunct insurance brokerage firm Northern Financial Group, Inc., which was located in Bayonne and was an agent for Lincoln General Insurance Company. At the guilty plea hearing, Pisacane admitted that between Feb. 12, 2004 and March 31, 2005, he received more than $300,000 in insurance premiums from numerous customers who were purchasing commercial insurance, yet he failed to the remit the premiums to Lincoln General. Pisacane admitted that he kept the funds for his personal use, including paying his children's college tuition bills and making credit card and car payments. An investigation determined that Pisacane failed to remit $300,355.

Detective Matthew Armstrong, Analysts Christina Runkle, Paula Carter and Marie Beyer, and Deputy Attorney General Nicole D. Rizzolo were assigned to the investigation. Deputy Attorney General Rizzolo represented the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor at the sentencing.

The Department of Banking and Insurance routinely assists the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor with the investigation and prosecution of licensed insurance agents. This assistance enables the state to coordinate criminal investigations and prosecutions with any imposition of licensing sanctions in order to protect the public.

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