Insurance Fraud and Moral Turpitude
Insurance fraud is generally a bad thing to have on one's record. It certainly isn't a violent crime like robbery, manslaughter, or murder. But it does speak to the dishonesty or other poor character of the person convicted of it. Insurance fraud is, in legal parlance, a crime of moral turpitude because of the intentional dishonesty fraud reflects. Crimes of moral turpitude can impact any number of rights and privileges. Federal immigration law, for instance, takes into account crimes of moral turpitude when determining whether an immigrant may qualify for naturalization. Employers, schools, lenders, licensing boards, landlords, and others will also consider insurance fraud to be the sort of criminal conviction to disqualify a candidate from work, education, loans, professions, housing, and other benefits. You are not alone if you have a criminal conviction, even one for insurance fraud. As many as seventy-seven million Americans have a criminal record.
Expungement to the Rescue
Fortunately for those with criminal convictions, sentencing reform advocates have influenced states to expand their expungement laws to cover more crimes and more convictions. New Jersey is among the many states that have reformed their expungement laws to help more people who carry the burden of a criminal record. New Jersey's recent expungement reform shortened the time one must wait to expunge a conviction, removed some bars to expungement, and allowed for expungement of multiple related convictions. You have new opportunities to clean your criminal record of insurance fraud and other convictions. Retain New Jersey criminal defense attorney Joseph D. Lento to review your insurance fraud conviction or other criminal history with you to determine whether you qualify for expungement.
Expungement Means a Clean Background Check
Expungement doesn't mean that the courts and law enforcement agencies destroy old criminal records of insurance fraud or other convictions. New Jersey Stat. §2C:52-1(a) provides that expungement means “the extraction, sealing, impounding, or isolation” of criminal records. In plain language, expungement means that you'll pass a clean background check for most of the common rights, privileges, and benefits you seek, including jobs, loans, licenses, housing, and schooling. If you get your insurance fraud conviction and any related convictions expunged, then you can indicate on an application that you don't have a criminal conviction. You can check the conviction's questions “no” rather than answer “yes” and lose the privilege. You don't even need to live in a state or city that has ban-the-box legislation. You've cleared your record for most purposes.
Expungement Is Broader than Convictions
Expungement does more than remove conviction records. It also removes records of warrants, arrest, charge, booking, detention, trial, and disposition, whether a court, police station, or jail or prison holds those records. New Jersey Stat. §2C:52-1(a) provides for expungement “of all records on file within any court, detention or correctional facility, law enforcement or criminal justice agency,” not just a court clerk's record of conviction. And New Jersey Stat. §2C:52-1(a) seals all records relating to “detection, apprehension, arrest, detention, trial or disposition of an offense within the criminal justice system.” New Jersey Stat. §2C:52-1(b) ensures the confidentiality of expunged criminal history by sealing “complaints, warrants, arrests, commitments, processing records, fingerprints, photographs, index cards, ‘rap sheets,' and judicial docket records.” Your criminal history of insurance fraud doesn't physically disappear, but for most purposes, it may as well have disappeared. Expungement ensures substantial confidentiality.
Expungement Doesn't Conceal from Everyone
Expungement is a good thing. You can surely benefit from expunging a record of insurance fraud. But expungement doesn't hide a conviction record from everyone. If you apply for employment with the courts, law enforcement, or corrections, or if you apply for a diversion program for which you would not qualify if you disclosed your record, then New Jersey Stat. 2C:52-27 requires you to disclose the expunged conviction. Because expungement depends on complex rules, conditions, and exceptions, the courts and police agencies may also access your sealed criminal history if you face another criminal charge and prosecution or apply for another expungement.
Insurance Fraud in New Jersey
New Jersey law, like the law in other states, makes it a crime to defraud an insurance company. New Jersey Stat. §2C:4-6 defines insurance fraud as to “knowingly make… a false, fictitious, fraudulent, or misleading statement of material fact” in an insurance application, renewal application, payment to an insurer, or claim for insurance payment, reimbursement, or other benefit. Insurance fraud can occur relating to healthcare insurance, motor vehicle insurance, property damage insurance, or other types of insurance. Insurance fraud is a serious New Jersey crime. Insurance fraud is a crime of the third degree punishable by up to five years imprisonment. If the defendant commits five or more acts of fraud having a value of at least $1,000, then the crime is of the second degree punishable by five to ten years imprisonment. Insurance fraud is certainly a serious enough crime to seek its expungement.
Expunging Insurance Fraud Records
Fortunately for those having a history of insurance fraud, New Jersey permits its expungement if the defendant otherwise qualifies for expungement. The expungement statute New Jersey Stat. §2C:52-2 is very complex, with abundant conditions and exceptions. A defendant seeking expungement must meet all conditions. One cannot say that a defendant can expunge a conviction without examining the defendant's entire record and related circumstances. But insurance fraud is not on the long list in New Jersey Stat. §2C:52-2 of crimes that one cannot expunge. A defendant cannot expunge a murder, manslaughter, rape, or arson conviction, and many other serious convictions. But insurance fraud is not one of those very serious crimes. If the defendant otherwise qualifies for expungement, insurance fraud records get sealed, just like records of other crimes for which expungement is available.
Expungement Bars
In some circumstances, though, a defendant will not be able to expunge an insurance fraud conviction. Under New Jersey Stat. §2C:52-2, expungement is generally available only for a single conviction, multiple convictions under a single judgment of conviction, or multiple related convictions arising out of the same sequence of events. If, in other words, the defendant seeking to expunge an insurance fraud conviction has other unrelated convictions, then the defendant will ordinarily lose the expungement opportunity. One must also wait the statutory five-year period before applying for expungement. A conviction in that five-year interim ordinarily spoils the expungement opportunity.
New Jersey Expungement Attorney Available
New Jersey criminal defense attorney Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm have helped hundreds of clients with expungement and related matters. Attorney Lento has the commitment, skills, and experience to aggressively and effectively represent you on expungement matters. He will review your New Jersey criminal record with you to determine whether you qualify for expungement. Your clean record is worth retaining a skilled criminal defense attorney to pursue expungement. Contact the Lento Law Firm at 888.535.3686 or online to retain and consult with Attorney Lento.
