Woman Indicted for Allegedly Hiding $100,000 Gift Received from Deceased Former Patient During Bankruptcy Proceedings

OCEAN VIEW – A Gloucester County woman was indicted Sept. 29 on charges she concealed from her personal bankruptcy filings a $100,000 gift she received from the estate of a deceased former resident of a long-term care facility where she worked, Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman and the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor (OIFP) announced.
Deborah Campbell, 57, of Williamstown, was charged with second degree fraud in insolvency and third degree theft by failure to make a required disposition of property received.
In 2011, Campbell served as the director of nursing at Oceanview Center for Rehabilitation and Continuing Care in Ocean View and in Sept. of that year she received notice a deceased former resident left her a $100,000 gift in his will. The administrator of the estate notified Campbell that she would receive the gift in two after-tax installments of $42,500. She received the installments in Nov. 2011 and March 2012. On March 16, 2012, a day after the second check was dated, Campbell filed for personal bankruptcy (Chapter 7), claiming $96,000 in personal debt.
Campbell allegedly falsified her bankruptcy petition in a variety of ways by leaving out the following information:
• That she had received the first disbursement of the gift and that she had knowledge she would be receiving the second.
• That she had opened a bank account and had been using it for transactions involving the gift monies.
• That she was a party to a contract to purchase an in-ground pool and that she had made a payment of $21,000 towards the pool.
• That she transferred a car out of her name to that of her live-in girlfriend who used the proceeds from the sale of that car to purchase a vehicle valued at nearly $80,000.
Campbell received a final decree in bankruptcy in Aug. 2012, discharging her of more than $75,000 in personal debt.
Deputy Attorney General Crystal Callahan presented the case to the grand jury. Detective L. Cross conducted the investigation and was assisted by Analyst Terri Drumm.
The indictment is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Second-degree crimes carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $150,000 fine, while third-degree crimes can carry a prison sentence of 3 to 5 years and a fine of up to $15,000.
Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Chillemi noted that some important cases have started with anonymous tips. People who are concerned about insurance cheating and have information about a fraud can report it anonymously by calling the toll-free hotline at 1-877-55-FRAUD, or visiting the Web site at www.NJInsurancefraud.org. State regulations permit a reward to be paid to an eligible person who provides information that leads to an arrest, prosecution and conviction for insurance fraud.
The charges and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations and the defendant is considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.