Piscataway Woman Pleads Guilty to $170,000 Theft

A Piscataway woman has pleaded guilty to stealing $170,000 by submitting false invoices for healthcare services that her husband received in their home.

Loreta Fontanilla, 72, of Piscataway, was indicted in December on the charges. The incidents reportedly happened between January 2005 and December 2010, according to the NJ Attorney General's Office.

She claimed to have paid $237,019, and was reimbursed $169,000 from MetLife, authorities previously said.

"In pleading guilty, Fontanilla admitted that between January 2005 and December 2010, she stole $169,900 by submitting 71 falsified independent care provider monthly invoices to the MetLife Insurance Company (“MetLife”) for health care services purportedly provided to her husband," a press release from NJ Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa's office said.

"An investigation by the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor determined that Fontanilla substantially overstated the amount of hours of nursing care provided to her husband as well as the amount that she paid the nurses for the care."

Her sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 16, where the state will recommend that she be sentenced to three years in state prison, according to the release.