A federal grand jury has indicted 67 people, including former New York Jets football star Joe Klecko, in connection with a massive insurance fraud scheme.
Among those charged Wednesday were eight appraisers and managers of a New Jersey insurance company and 32 owners and employees of Philadelphia-area body shops.Authorities said employees of the Travelers Insurance Co. office in Voorhees, N.J., conspired with the body shops and claimants to submit phony claims for damage to automobile paint caused by emissions from an oil refinery.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee Dobkin said Travelers paid out more than $5 million in claims arising from damage allegedly caused by particles and debris from the Sun Oil Co. refinery in Marcus Hook, Pa.
The claims, which averaged $3,500, were for damage caused between 1988 and 1990. Authorities said hundreds of the claims were fraudulent.
Klecko, a former defensive lineman at Temple University who lives in Malvern, Pa., was charged with perjury. Prosecutors said Klecko lied to the grand jury in November 1991 about a claim he submitted for paint damage to his pickup truck.
Charges against the other defendants include racketeering, mail fraud, income tax fraud, obstruction of justice and perjury.