The Cedar Grove Police Department has arrested two women on charges relating to multiple instances of insurance fraud involving theft, fraud and forgery.
The arrests of the defendants, Carla A. Sousa, 27, of Hillside and Raquel A. Silva, 29, of Elizabeth followed an ongoing detective bureau investigation into a July 27, 2015 report made by a Cedar Grove dentist alleging that Sousa, a former employee, submitted fraudulent claims to insurance companies on behalf of the dentist and then cashed checks issued by insurance companies, keeping the money.
The investigation revealed that between August of 2013 and February of 2015, Sousa submitted numerous fraudulent claims in patient names for work that was not performed and upon receiving checks, forged the doctor’s name and cashed the checks.
The total number of checks located was 77 with an aggregate amount of $32,661.00.
During the investigation, it was also determined that Sousa had submitted ten fraudulent claims in the name of her friend Raquel A. Silva for work that was not performed. It was determined the checks on those claims were cashed by Silva.
Carla A. Sousa was arrested on September 18, 2015 and charged with Theft, Forgery, Identity Theft and Health Care Claim Fraud.
Raquel A. Silva was arrested on September 21, 2015 and charged with theft with an aggregate total of $2,263.00 for the ten checks she received and cashed.
Both defendants were processed at police headquarters and released pending Superior Court proceedings. Det. Sgt. Andrew McPhail was the investigating detective.