Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovlerand Orange County Sheriff Paul Arteta AnnounceInsurance Fraud Arrest by Multi-Agency White Collar Crime Task Force
Westbury Man Charged with Insurance Fraud in the FourthDegree
Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced that Victor Coles, 35, of Westbury, was arrested by the multi-agency Orange County White Collar Crime Task Force and charged with Insurance Fraud in the Fourth Degree. As the charge was not bail eligible, Coles was released with an appearance ticket to return to the Town of Cornwall court on a later date.
As alleged in charges filed in court, the defendant submitted a written application for car insurance using a false address. As a result of the misrepresentation, the defendant’s insurance premiums were fraudulently reduced by a significant amount.
The multi-agency Task Force, which includes investigators from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and several other local police agencies including the Town of Newburgh Police Department, the Village of Warwick Police Department, and Town of Woodbury Police Department, was created in March 2023 to focus on enhancing the investigation and prosecution of public corruption and financial crimes. The Task Force’s mandate includes the investigation of residential contractor fraud; crimes involving public integrity, public corruption, and ethics violations; embezzlement and other complex theft cases, crimes against revenue; wage theft and labor law violations.
“Insurance fraud is not a victimless crime,” said District Attorney David M. Hoovler. “The result of insurance fraud is that everyone else sees their premiums rise, for the ill-gotten gain of the perpetrator. I hope this arrest, and other prosecutions like it, stands as a warning to those looking to use fraud in order to enrich themselves: law enforcement is watching and we will seek to hold you accountable.”
“Insurance fraud can be a time-consuming investigation, by collaborating with other law enforcement agencies and the DA’s office, the people responsible for committing these types of crimes can be held accountable,” said Orange County Sheriff Paul Arteta.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Daniel Steyskal.
A criminal charge is merely an allegation by the police that a defendant has committed a violation of the criminal law, and it is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the State of New York’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.