A former Rockland County cab company owner was found guilty on Tuesday of committing a $10 million insurance scam in New York City.
After a four-week trial in Manhattan federal court, a jury convicted Scott E. Sanders, 41, on seven counts of fraud and identity theft he faced in connection with a long-running scheme to obtain significantly lower insurance premiums for his livery fleet, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.
http://liarcatchers.com/insurance_fraud.html
Sanders, of Saddle River, N.J., faces a maximum of 120 years in prison for mail and wire fraud; a mandatory two years for aggravated identity theft; and a $1.5 million fine.
Sanders, who could not be reached for comment on Wednesday, will remain free on $2 million bail. The judge in the case, Lewis A. Kaplan, set sentencing for July 9.
Between 2005 and 2010, prosecutors said, Sanders filed fraudulent insurance applications with the New York Automobile Insurance Plan, claiming his cabs were stored and operated outside New York City, where premiums are cheaper.
Prosecutors said Sanders listed other people as the presidents and owners of his company in an attempt to conceal his identity. In addition, he helped other fleet owners use the the same illegal tactics to cheat insurance companies.
It is not Sanders’ first conviction for insurance fraud.
He and his father, Dean Sanders, owned and operated numerous taxi companies in Rockland County in the 1990s, when they were both hit with federal racketeering charges.
In 1996, the younger Sanders was sentenced to 41 months in prison after admitting his role in a $3.9 million scheme. His father was also sentenced to time in prison.
Both men eventually forfeited more than $1 million in cash, cars — including five Mercedes-Benzes, a Land Rover and a 1921 Ford — and property in Nyack, Manhattan, Florida and upstate New York.
