Essex County Insurance Agent Indicted for Allegedly Submitting Fraudulent Insurance Company Applications to Illegally Obtain Commissions

An Essex County insurance agent has been indicted on charges of fraudulently submitting applications to four insurance companies to illegally obtain commissions.

Attorney General Matthew Platkin and the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor (OIFP) announced the charges against 37-year-old Jean Estil of Newark, including second-degree insurance fraud and theft by deception, attempted theft by deception, third-degree impersonation and fourth-degree forgery in a Trenton grand jury indictment on December 22, 2022.

According to the charges, Estil fraudulently submitted applications to Colombian, Mutual of Omaha, Transamerica and Royal Neighbors of America between October 1, 2019 and March 6, 2022 to obtain or renew policies knowing they contained false information or omitted material facts so that he could obtain commissions.

Estil also allegedly forged the names of individuals on eight insurance applications, obtained the personal identifying information of an individual and used it to represent himself as that person in a phone call with one of the insurance companies, and illegally obtained four insurance company commissions in the aggregate amount of more than $75,000.

Second-degree charges carry a five to 10-year sentence in state prison and a fine of up to $150,000; three to five years and a fine of up to $15,000 in state prison for third-degree; and fourth-degree charges carry a state prison sentence of up to 18 months and a fine of up to $10,000.

The charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.**BULLSEYE

Deputy Attorney General Amanda Nini presented the case to the grand jury for the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor. Detective Brian Bunn coordinated the investigation with assistance from Investigator Anthony Mihalow.

Interim Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Garcia noted that anonymous tips can launch some important investigations. Concerned about insurance cheating? Call 1-877-55-FRAUD toll-free to anonymously report it or www.NJInsurancefraud.org. A reward will be paid to persons providing information leading to the arrest, prosecution and conviction of anyone who commits insurance fraud.