Piscataway Woman Sentenced in Insurance Scheme

An elderly New Jersey woman who submitted dozens of false invoices to a health insurance company has been sentenced to three years in state prison.

State authorities say 72-year-old Loreta Fontanilla of Piscataway received her sentence on Tuesday. She had pleaded guilty in June to theft by deception.

Fontanilla admitted that between January 2005 and December 2010, she stole $169,900 by submitting 71 falsified independent care provider invoices to her insurer for health care services allegedly provided to her husband.

An investigation by the state's Insurance Fraud Prosecutor's office determined Fontanilla "substantially overstated" the number of hours of in-home nursing care provided to her husband and the amount that she paid the nurses.

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