BELLEVILLE —
A Monmouth County man has been charged with submitting fraudulent health insurance claims in the name of a Belleville ophthalmologist for whom he worked, then stealing the insurance checks when they came into the doctor’s office.
Austin B. Mongiello, 27, of Manalapan, was indicted last Wednesday by the State Grand Jury in Trenton on charges of health care claims fraud, theft by deception, theft by unlawful taking, and forgery, N.J. Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino and Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Christopher Iu announced.
According to the indictment, between Sept. 1, 2012, and March 30, 2013, Mongiello submitted $4,155 in fraudulent claims to VSP, an insurance carrier specializing in vision care. He allegedly submitted the claims under the name of the ophthalmologist, whom authorities did not identify, other than to state that the doctor’s practice was in Belleville.
VSP issued checks amounting to $1,456 to the ophthalmologist, but Mongiello was able to steal only $842 worth of the checks from the doctor’s office, the prosecutor said. The suspect was also charged with stealing $687 in checks made payable to his employer by another insurance carrier, Davis Vision.
Iu noted that people who are concerned about insurance cheating and have information about a fraud can report it anonymously by calling the toll-free hotline at 1-877-55-FRAUD, or by visiting www.NJInsurancefraud.org.
— Karen Zautyk
