March 10, 2016
A New Jersey couple, their son and the manager of a car dealership in Hudson County are all facing charges after state prosecutors allege they conspired to obtain a $139,000 Bentley only to torch it and later report it stolen to an insurance company.
On Wednesday, the New Jersey attorney general's office indicted 63-year-old Chester Jarzabek, his wife Anna, 61, their son John, 26, and D.I.B. leasing manager Hector Marquez, 43, for their alleged roles in the fraudulent scam, the Insurance Journal reports.
According to prosecutors, the four defendants falsified a car loan application in the Jarzabeks' name, inflating their income in bogus documents in order to purchase the vehicle. The couple then allegedly conspired with their son and Marquez, both employees at the since shuttered D.I.B. Leasing in Teterboro, to set the vehicle on fire and submit a false insurance claim stating that the car was burned after it was stolen.
“These defendants are accused of pulling out all stops to line their own pockets,” said New Jersey Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman. “It is especially distasteful that the alleged criminal behavior was a family affair. This kind of blatant fraud against banks and insurance companies will be prosecuted vigorously by the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor.”
The Jarzabeks and Marquez are all charged with second-degree conspiracy, second-degree insurance fraud and two counts of second-degree theft by deception. Michael Ricciardi, a bookkeeper at D.I.B. Leasing, was also indicted as a co-conspirator in the alleged scheme. All five defendants face an additional charges of third-degree theft by deception.
