Piscataway Woman Indicted for $170K Insurance Theft

A Piscataway woman was charged Friday for allegedly stealing approximately $170,000 in falsified invoices sent to an insurance company regarding the care of her husband.

According to a press release from the office of state Attorney general Jeffrey S. Chiesa, Loreta Fontanilla, 72, has been charged with second-degree health care claims fraud, second-degree theft by deception, and six counts of fourth-degree falsifying records.

According to the release, Fontanilla allegedly submitted 71 falsified invoices to MetLife Insurance for health care services provided to her husband between January 2005 and December 2010.

Within those invoices, she allegedly claimed that her husband had received between 52 and 93 hours of health care services each month and that she had paid $50 per hour to the providers.

She claimed having paid a total of $237,019, and was reimbursed $169,000 from MetLife, according to the release.

A subsequent investigation by the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor showed that Fontanilla's husband actually received between 10 to 40 hours of health care services per week, and were paid $25 per hour, for a total of $27,000 paid out by Fontanilla. 

If convicted, Fontanilla faces up to 10 years in state prison and a fine of up to $150,000 for the second-degree offenses, and up to 18 months in state prison and a maximum fine of $10,000 for the fourth-degree offenses, the release said.