June 7, 2006

Attorney General Corbett charges Williamstown NJ woman with insurance fraud in worker's compensation claim

HARRISBURG - Attorney General Tom Corbett today announced that agents from the Attorney General's Insurance Fraud Section have filed criminal charges against a Williamstown, New Jersey woman accused of filing a fraudulent worker's compensation claim.

Corbett identified the defendant as Dawn M. Utz, 37, of Williamstown, New Jersey.  The alleged illegal activity occurred, in part, in Montgomery County.

Corbett said that Utz allegedly reported work related injuries and testified that those injuries prevented her from working in order to receive money while allegedly continuing to work in a number of different capacities.

Corbett said that Utz, a registered nurse and former employee of Parkview Hospital in Philadelphia, filed a worker's compensation claim, claiming that she suffered injuries to her hip and lower back on Sept. 2, 2002 while trying to lift a patient in an Intensive Care Unit. 

According to the criminal complaint, Utz testified under oath on Jan. 28, 2003, that, as a result of her injury, she had been unable to perform work of any kind since Oct. 30, 2002.  Utz gave this testimony while lying on the floor, which, she testified, was necessary because she was in so much pain.

Corbett said that in June 2003 and again in November 2003, Utz allegedly maintained the claim that her injury continued to prevent her from doing any work.

Despite repeated claims that her injuries prevented her from working, the criminal complaint states that in November 2002, Utz applied to be a contracted registered nurse (RN) with a business that provided medical personnel staffing to various medical facilities. 

Corbett said the charges state that Utz began working as a nurse through that agency in December 2002 and continued to work through June 2003 earning $36 per hour for her services.  One of the days Utz allegedly worked was Jan. 28, 2003; the same day on which she testified under oath that she was in so much pain that she had to lie on the floor while testifying.

Corbett said that in addition to working in an independent capacity, Utz allegedly also worked as a masseur and operated an on-line business called Holistic Health, which sold nutritional supplements.

Utz is charged with one count each of worker's compensation fraud, attempted theft by deception and perjury.  Each count is a third degree felony and carries a maximum penalty of seven years in prison and a $15,000 fine. 

Additionally, Utz is charged with one count of false swearing, a second degree misdemeanor, which carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Utz was preliminarily arraigned before King of Prussia Magisterial District Judge William I. Maruszczak and released on $10,000 unsecured bail.  A preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 16, 2006.

The case will be prosecuted in Montgomery County by Deputy Attorney General M. Eric Schoenberg, of the Attorney General's Insurance Fraud Section.

(A person charged with a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty)

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Editor's Note: For a photo of the defendant and a copy of the criminal complaint contact the Attorney General's Office at 717-787-5211.  To learn more about the Attorney General's Insurance Fraud Section go to www.attorneygeneral.gov.