By: Tracie Carter
An East Brunswick business owner has been convicted of insurance fraud and related offenses after prosecutors proved he submitted a fraudulent claim for damage to heavy equipment.
According to a statement released by Attorney General Jennifer Davenport and the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor, 49-year-old Andre Love of East Brunswick was found guilty of third-degree insurance fraud, attempted theft by deception, and fourth-degree falsifying records following a four-day trial before Superior Court Judge Robert J. Jones in Middlesex County.
Prosecutors said Love, the owner of Love’s Tree Removal, filed a claim with Markel Insurance seeking compensation for damage to a 1995 Caterpillar Wheel Loader.
Love obtained the insurance policy in September 2020 and later submitted a claim on May 28, 2021, alleging the machine had been damaged by an employee two days earlier.
As part of the claim, Love submitted an invoice on June 9, 2021, purportedly from Monroe Repairs LLC that included a meter reading and an estimate exceeding $28,000 for repairs.
Evidence presented at trial revealed that Love had received an estimate for the same transmission damage to the same loader in April 2020—months before obtaining the insurance policy and more than a year before filing the claim.
Investigators determined that the April 2020 estimate contained the identical meter reading and total repair estimate later submitted to the insurance company.
Authorities further discovered that Monroe Repairs LLC had not inspected the loader or prepared the invoice submitted in support of the claim.
The company's owner confirmed the document was not generated by the business.