Peter Mancuso, 43, of Nutley PATERSON — Three men were arrested for bilking an insurance company for replacement cell phones over more than three years, authorities said.
The arrest of the three men was made after one of them boasted about the scheme on Facebook, said Camelia Valdes, the Passaic County Prosecutor.
Roger Davila, 32, of Passaic Peter Mancuso, a 43-year-old from Nutley, and Passaic residents Roger Davila, 32, and 26-year-old Ceasar Berrios are accused of filing over $160,000 in fraudulent claims from December 2009 until August 2013, authorities announced Thursday.
Mancuso and Davila used fictitious names to submit certified loss claims for lost or stolen cell phones to Asurion Insurance Services, authorities said. Berrios is accused accused ot taking the delivery of replacement cell phones at a covert address – and the three are accused of selling the new phones over the Internet, Valdes said.
Ceasar Berrios, 26, of Passaic Davila also boasted about the sales scheme on his personal Facebook page while it was operational, the prosecutor said.
All three are charged with insurance fraud, theft by deception, trafficking in stolen goods and conspiracy – each of which are second-degree offenses which could mean five to 10 years in state prison, authorities said.
The arrests were the result of a year-long investigation by the Passaic prosecutor’s insurance fraud unit and the Newark office of the U.S. Secret Service, Valdes added.
