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Robert Napolitano, the 55-year-old owner of Dawn to Dusk LLC, previously admitted defraud the NJTA and insurance companies through “false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises,” U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said in a release this afternoon.
Napolitano worked the con with 56-year-old Gerardo Blasi, also of Clifton, a Turnpike Authority claims manager whose jobs was to negotiate and recover the costs of repairs from insurance companies of motorists who caused damage to its property, Fishman said.
Napolitano had the insurance companies issue checks to Dawn to Dusk after he evaluated damage and negotiated with them. Sometimes he gave the authority a portion of the money adn sometimes he kept it all, authorities said. Blasi also got a cut, they said.
The total skimmed came to more than $900,000, Fishman said.
Blasi, like Napolitano, pleaded guilty in the case.
He was sentenced this past November to 45 months in prison and three years of supervised release.
Fishman credited special agents from the FBI with making the case and thanked the Turnpike Authority for its assistance and cooperation.
Handling the case for the goverment is Assistant U.S. Attorney David L. Foster of Fishman’s Special Prosecution’s Division.
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