A Jersey City man was arrested yesterday on charges he received more than $52,000 in life insurance funds intended for his estranged brother, according to prosecutors.
Darrell Walker, 53, was charged with second-degree insurance fraud and faces up to 10 years in jail, according to the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office.
The investigation began when the IRS notified the defendant’s brother, James Walker Jr., of Scotch Plains, that he owed outstanding taxes on an insurance payment he reportedly received in 2009, prosecutors said.
http://liarcatchers.com/insurance_fraud.html
Walker told the IRS he had received no payment, according to prosecutors, who said the insurance company investigated and determined that his sister had named him as the beneficiary on her life insurance policy before her 2008 death. He did not know about the policy, prosecutors said.
The insurance company found that someone had used James Walker’s name and Social Security number to collect on the insurance policy, prosecutors said.
With the HCPO Office involved, authorities determined that Darrell Walker, who had not spoken to his brother in “many years,” was the likely suspect, prosecutors said.
After their sister’s death, he contacted her insurance company, filed a claim and had the funds deposited in a bank account opened in James Walker’s name, but using Darrell Walker’s Jersey City address, according to prosecutors.
Checks drawn on the account indicate that Darrell Walker used the funds, which totaled more than $52,000, to cash checks and make payments on personal loans and credit cards, according to prosecutors.
