4 charged in journey insurance coverage rip-off, trying to steal greater than $200k, N.J. officers say

Four individuals had been indicted and charged for his or her roles in an alleged scheme to file fraudulent journey insurance coverage claims and steal a whole bunch of hundreds of {dollars} from completely different insurance coverage firms, in accordance with New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin.

Agustin Matos, 40, of North Haledon, Kenia Ivonne Vasquez, 44, of the Bronx, New York, and Keyra Carla Liriano, 45, and Patricio Arturo Alfonso, 46, each of Fort Lee, are every charged with conspiracy, insurance coverage fraud, tried theft by deception, impersonation/theft of identification and falsifying/tampering with data, Platkin stated.

The indictment by a state grand jury was returned on Dec. 5, 2025, officers stated.

The Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor acquired a referral from the Special Investigation Unit of American International Group concerning the fraudulent claims, officers stated.

From April 2022 to August 2023, in Bergen, Hudson and Passaic counties in New Jersey, in New York and different undetermined locations, the 4 defendants allegedly opened a number of journey insurance coverage insurance policies with a number of insurance coverage firms, overlaying the identical journey to the identical international vacation spot, officers stated.

When making use of for these insurance policies, they allegedly used false identities and supplied bank card info that tied them collectively, in accordance with authorities.

The 4 people allegedly submitted equivalent info to a number of carriers, whereas certifying that they had no different insurance coverage overlaying the medical bills or the journey, officers stated.

The OIFP’s investigation revealed that the defendants had not traveled to the international locations as alleged and so they had by no means been hospitalized as they claimed, authorities stated.

Almost all data the 4 individuals submitted to insurance coverage firms as a part of the scheme had been allegedly altered, fraudulent, or fully fabricated, in accordance with officers.

The 4 individuals allegedly would file claims with every service, falsely asserting that they had been hospitalized overseas and had incurred hundreds of {dollars} in medical bills, officers stated.

These claims would have been coated underneath the journey insurance coverage insurance policies, however a lot of the insurance coverage firms denied the fraudulent claims, in accordance with authorities.

Liriano is charged with theft by deception for allegedly acquiring $14,835 in declare funds from two carriers, officers stated.

In all, the 4 defendants tried to defraud the insurance coverage firms of about $252,852, officers stated.

Authorities stated Matos tried to get $19,986, Vasquez tried to get $27,812, Liriano tried to assert $37,226 and Alfonso tried to assert $167,829.